The Scavenger Hunt
by jasmin flower
Summary: Sakura asks to be put on a real mission, but wasn't expecting what she got- or who! Rated for later chapters SakuXNeji
1. Chapter 1

Hey! I'm starting a new story. I'm kind of writing this without direction right now, as I only have the beginning of the plot in my head. This is kind of inspired by leafygirl, as I never thought of the pairing, as it was really cute in her fic, but I need to tweak a few things, I can't do a total ripoff!

Here's the gist of the story, a summary if you will.

A mission has come up, an important delivery and a team of two goes to drop it off. On the way, they find out a few things, like that this mission was more than they bargained for in more ways than one! (NejiXSaku) Rated M for late chapters.

There will be lemons! I'm all about the lemons! Won't be until later chapters tho.

Disclaimer- I doesn't own, Ect. Ect. Ect...

Chapter 1

Sakura sighed as she drew yet another tube from the subterfuge. Being a med nin sounded like a whole lot more fun when you thought that missions were involved more often. She was restless! Hearing Naruto talking about the endless missions, the determination and strength it took to complete them, it was nearly enough to make her scream! All of the action was going on out there and she was stuck in here trying to find out what the element was, the final little piece of the puzzle to counter the virus that was killing the tomatoes. Tomatoes!! She was a med nin, not a gardener! She poured out the substance and pulled out the eyedropper and squeezed a drop out, placing it onto the slide. With any hope after she put on a drop of the newly altered serum it would turn brown, instead of the vibrant green. She squeezed out the drop, her eyes nearly closed in fear, her lip bit and watched as the green around the edges started to turn.

It turned? She opened her eyes and stared, her hands shaking in anticipation, watching for another bit of color change, which she quickly got. "IT WORKED!!" She yelled, causing Shizune to run up, throwing open the door. "Sakura?!" She turned and grabbed the hands of the older nin, dancing around the room happily. "I found it! I finally did it!" She jumped back, starting to dance by herself, leaving Shizune in shock and horror.

"Tsunade-sensei!" She ran in, a bottle of the anti-virus in her hand. "I have this done! It's been tested and works, it kill the tomato virus!" She grinned and Tsunade nodded. "Not bad. It only took a month. I was expecting two. Anyway, I have-"

"Sensei!" She pleaded, causing Tsunade to stop mid sentence. "I need to go out! Please, give me a real mission! Anything that gets me out! I've gained ten pounds since I started this! I need exercise!" Tsunade looked up at Sakura who realized what she was saying and to who. "I'm sorry, Tsunade-sama. I'm just really..." She turned to the window and Tsunade knew the look in he eye. She was feeling trapped and Tsunade stood, her head down. "You're feeling too tied down. You want to stretch your legs." Sakura nodded, thankful that Tsunade understood. "I have a lot of missions that have come in in the last few days, So, do you want a few days or longer?" Sakura sighed in relief. A real mission! "The longer the better! Please, just don't stick me with Naruto? He keeps up with the missions he's getting and we'll be trying to find our own appendages." Sakura loved Naruto to death, but his missions were mostly suicide missions that he just never died on. She was wanting some out time, not dead time.

"Alright, Actually, I do have one... Come by tomorrow. You're on the Konoha Scavenger hunt team!" Sakura froze. "Scavenger hunt?" Tsunade nodded. "I didn't even think about it! It's a world wide hunt, you must deliver a message from Kage to Kage, finding one item from each nation on the way." Sakura frowned. "It's less dangerous than Naruto's missions, right?" Tsunade nodded. "It's all in fun. It's more or less a timed thing, the teams will be setting off at different times. Th rules are this, two man teams, follow the map, get the required item from each village and trade in the scroll you got from the previous village. Sound like fun?" Sakura nodded. "Yes!" Her voice was almost adult oriented, causing Tsunade to raise an eyebrow. "Don't make that sound yet. You don't even know who your team mate is." Sakura froze. She had said team of two. "Who is it?" Tsunade shrugged and looked over the papers. "I'll have to find someone suited to your abilities. You're a close type, attack, Hmm, I'll have to find who's available." Sakura nodded. "Let me know, alright? I'm in though!" Sakura nodded as Tsunade waved, and Sakura nearly danced out of the door.

It was late that night that Sakura met Naruto and Kakashi at the bar, Ino and Sai meeting them there. Not that they were 'together', but they were always together, that group. She inwardly hoped to either be paired with Sai or Ino, the two that wouldn't hit on her, as she was pretty sure Sai was after Naruto and Ino was all over Chouji. She couldn't get along with him at all when they were younger, but through the years, knowing what kind of guy he was, Ino knew that he was kind and sweet, which was a great switch from the sadists in the city.

She wasn't too afraid that Kakashi-sensei would hit on her, they joked every now and then, but nothing that couldn't be shrugged off as sleep deprivation on long missions.

Naruto would not only hit on her, but probably get her killed. Not on purpose, but he had a tendency to start trouble wherever he went.

Sai or Ino. That would be best, as she knew that Kakashi drew nearly as much trouble as Naruto. Those two would be perfect. "Sakura-chan! We got a mission!" Sakura grinned at them, hoping that they might all be set together, a change in rules or whatever. "Really? What is it?"

"Some delivery mission, we have to escort one of the big wigs home." He shrugged, almost depressed at the ease of the mission at hand. So he wasn't with her. "Who all is on the mission?"

"Me, Sai and Ino leave in two days. I heard that you finished your mission! You know what you'll be working on next?" Sakura shrugged, feeling a little goofy. "I'm on a scavenger hunt." Kakashi froze, looking at her. "Damn, and I thought Tsunade-sama liked you!" Sakura turned to him, a little confused. "She told me it was going to be fun." Kakashi's frown was evident, even through his mask. "Oh, no-no-no! This is held every five years or so and last time we only had one survivor. Fortunately for you, it was the med nin. Keep an eye and watch your back!" Kakashi warned, his visible eye frightened.

"Uh, Kakashi-sensei, do you think that, maybe, you could go with me?" Kakashi frowned. "I leave for my mission tomorrow. I'm on recon again. I'm sorry, Sakura, but I really can't." She frowned. "I can see about going with you, Sakura-chan!" Naruto grinned at her and she shook her head. "I prefer to live. If none of you are going, I wonder who I'm going with?"

That was the question of the night, through each of her drinks she thought, but couldn't think of another person that would be on the team with her. Finally by the end of the night she was completely fried and drowned at the same time.

"I don't wanna die over a silly- hic- game!" She moaned for the fifth time that hour and Ino frowned, looking over to Lee, who had arrived a little bit ago. "This is really getting to her. I wonder, Hey Lee, do you already have a mission?"

"Yeah, Guy-sensei and Ten-ten and I are going to the Kazekage to get something. I'd ask to go with her, but you know, Tsunade-sama already sent out the papers saying we would be on our way in two days." Ino frowned.

"I can ask." Ino turned to see Kiba smiling at her. "We want to protect her from people like you!" Ino teased, swatting his arm. "I don't wanna die..."

"Alright, you've had way too much, Kakashi, help me take her home?" Kakashi shook his head. "You stay here, I'll take her." He stood and took her under her knees, lifting till she leaned back, falling into his other arm.

He laid her down on her bed, stripping her shoes and dress from her and covered her with the silk comforter she had. It was soft as could be and Kakashi sighed, wondering if she'd throw up on it. It would be such a pity...

"Sakura, you sleep this off, find me when you wake up, I'll see what I can do to get you a good partner." She rolled over, humming and Kakashi couldn't figure out if it was a song or a reply. He wrote out the same instructions and laid them on the table next to her bed.

The table happened to be where Sakura threw up in the morning.

It was nearly noon when she crawled out of bed and wondered if it would be less painful to kill herself then and there. The taste of the drinks from last night still lingered in the bitter flavor of bile that covered her tongue. She fell back asleep with her head in the toilet.

It wasn't until two that she awoke again, this time to see Naruto standing over her. "God, Sakura! I've never seen you get that drunk before!" He leaned down next to her and patted her back. "I-" She threw up again, the last little bit of anything in her stomach splashing into the water.

"Naruto, Water and aspirin..." She pointed to the cabinet and he nodded his understanding. He brought her what she'd asked for and she swallowed it, taking sips from the cup to keep from throwing up again.

This was when Naruto noticed her state of dress and stared, jaw agape. He'd never seen her like this, she only wore a pair of pink panties that matched her hair. He jumped from the room and rushed to the hall, causing Sakura to notice her state of dress as well.

"Uh, Naruto, who got me home last night?" Naruto turned, refusing to look in. The images in his head, the swell of her chest was nearly enough to make him go back in. "It was Ino, No wait, Kakashi brought you home. Why?" She frowned as she took another sip. Kakashi had undressed her to her panties... "Oh, hell, what did I do?"

"You got really drunk." Sakura sighed, looking at the door. "Naruto, can you get me the pink robe on the door?" Naruto nodded, though he knew she couldn't see it and ran over, getting it as quickly as possible. He held out his hand as she finally felt the strength to stand and stumbled. Naruto hearing the faulty step was there in an instant, holding her up. The contact with the naked kunoichi was enough to cause a nosebleed and he sniffed, trying to keep from getting blood in her hair. "You threw up in your room." She sighed and nodded. "I'll take care of it, just, just give me a sec..." Naruto frowned. "You get in a shower, take care of yourself. I'll take care of it."

Sakura would normally tell him to come back in an hour, but with the way her head spun she wanted him there if she fell again. "Naruto, thank you." She looked up at him, noticing the blood under his nose, then where his hand was. She jumped up, covering the breast that he'd just had and grabbed the robe from his hand. "I'll, be out in, a, uh, minute..." Naruto nodded, turning and walked right out of the room.

There were two problems with this whole situation. After noticing that his hand was firmly cupping her breast she was really tempted to kiss him, which told her that she was still a little drunk, and when you have a raging hard on it's a lot less likely to notice things, like a piece of paper sticking out of the side of someone's sick.

It wasn't till the next day that she went to Tsunade's to get briefed on the mission. "Sakura, I heard about yesterday! Getting groped by Naruto and undressed by Kakashi! Damn, If I could only get that pretty when I was drunk!" Sakura stared at Shizune, who wasn't realizing that she spoke out loud and looked up at Sakura, smiling. "Tsunade-sama is waiting for you!"

She walked in and noticed the half glaze over Tsunade's eyes to tell her either she'd been drinking or had a really late night. "It took me a while, but Kakashi helped me pick a great partner for you."

"Sakura, - wake up- find you-partner." Sakura frowned at herself. Kakashi had told her to look for him. She groaned, knowing that Kakashi's terror over her life would cause him to find whoever was most efficient, not necessarily someone that would be a good travel companion. "I believe you two know each other, I think you've had a few missions together. Actually, if I'm seeing this right you've been on quite a few missions together." She sighed. Good, it was someone she knew. Lee was on another mission, and so was Gai, so it couldn't be way too bad. There was a knock at the door and Sakura turned, biting her lip in anticipation.

"This would be him." Him? "Come in." The instant he walked in Sakura knew that this mission was going to be really really long. "Sakura." He bowed, his cloud white eyes on her and Sakura nodded in reply. "Neji."

"You both know the mission, you must take this scroll to the next land on the list, in order, and trade it. There's a total of three villages, you've been to each of them already between the two of you." They nodded their understanding. "In each city you must also get one thing from the list." She handed the list to Neji who didn't even look at it. Once you've finished, return here and then the contest is done. All contestants will end here to make sure that no one's cheated. Due to this, you're at a little bit of a disadvantage. You technically have to go to four villages." they nodded. "You leave in three hours. Here's your expenses, you each get the same amount, but I would suggest that you get anything you think you might need here. Anything that we have here at the castle, you're welcomed to. We really need to win this, as it would get a LOT of money in the city. Konoha would finally be out of my debt..." Sakura frowned. This was to pay off the rest of the gambling debt? "Tsunade-sama, Do you really think that this is the best way to pay off your debtors?" Tsunade regarded her darkly, scribbling onto a piece of paper. "Tell me what you think." Sakura looked at the piece of paper and nearly choked. "You still owe three million ryo?"

"This would add two million to the city. We could actually give the academy the upgrades they need as well as fixing up the old Uchiha district. When Sasuke came back we didn't think that he'd need so much help, but this would actually take care of it. People could start living there again..." Sakura nodded. She wasn't doing this just for her, also for the others in the village. "Hai, Sensei. Three hours."

"Meet me at the front gate at exactly ten." They nodded and headed out. She looked over at Neji, who obviously had no interest in talking to her and frowned. "Is something wrong?" She looked up at him, surprised. She forgot how much he saw. "No! I just, uh, I have a lot to do, so I'll see you!" She decided against walking out and jumped out of the nearest window. The first thing she had to do was KILL Kakashi!!

"What did I ever do to you?!" She yelled when she found him, about to head out of the town on his mission. "Sakura? What's wrong?"

"Neji? Kakashi, I was wanting some sort of human interaction! He's about as lively as your blow up doll!!" Kakashi stared at her, not knowing where to start. He chose this to say. "I don't have a blow up doll!" Sakura walked up to him, toe to toe and stared at him, her hands on his hips. "I can't believe you stuck me with the quietest ninja in all of Konoha! So much for learning new jokes!!"

"Tsunade was about to stick you with Ibiki."

"Have I ever told you how much I love you?" She batted her eyes and smoothed out the wrinkle in his jacket. "I'll see you when I get back, alright?" She smiled at him and he nodded, rolling his eyes. "Take care. There's no one who'll be better to watch your back than Neji." Sakura nodded, no longer wanting to fight with him. He was gone in an instant, the only sign that he'd been there at all was the shoe print in the dirt in front of her. She turned to see Neji staring at her.

Damn, she didn't want him to hear that. He turned, walking slowly towards the shops at the side of the street.

Sakura hurried to her house, getting her pack and filling it with a few things she thought she might need, some heat packs, bandages, sutures, mostly medical stuff. She grabbed two outfits from her closet, one was a sweat suit, black, and the other she didn't even really pay attention to, all she really noticed was it was pink. She grabbed at a few random things on her way out of the door and ran to the shops to get a few things there as well.

She was surprised to find that she was leaving at the same time as everyone else. "We asked to be delayed till you were leaving, so that we could say good bye." Naruto stepped forwards, hugging her and all Sakura could do was cringe till he was done. "Sakura, take care." He tried to cradle her cheek to find her cracking her knuckles. "Oi! Never mind, Never mind!" He stepped back and Ino stifled a giggle. "I know how much Neji can grow on you, just don't get carried away, right?" Sakura stared in disbelief. "Ino! What kind of slut do you think I am?!" This remark made the faces of all of the men go red, unknowing to Sakura, even Neji. "Can you let me know?" Kiba found himself waking up a good fifty feet away.

Sakura gave quick hugs to everyone as Tsunade approached. "Sakura, Neji, it's about time. You be safe."

"That's what I'm saying!" Ino shrugged and Sakura found herself blushing terribly. "Don't worry." Sakura was surprised to feel his hand on her shoulder. "I'll take care of her." This seemed to settle the minds of many of the people there and they nodded, the two other teams headed out. Tsunade shot Sakura a grin, the likes of which she'd never seen. "Ino's crazy, you know we take our mission more serious than that..." She was surprised to hear Tsunade's answer. "Maybe it's time that you shouldn't."

With that, they were off.

Hey! Hoped you liked the first chapter! I'm going to try and make this more of a love story with a little smut at the end, not like the rest of my fics, smut smut smut!!

I'll see you all next chapter!

Jasminflower69


	2. Chapter 2

Hey all! I'm off to a great start I thinks, and I'm hoping to get a few reviews on this one! You like it? Please feel free to let me know!

Disclaimer- the way a fanfic writer states that they don't make money from the fics and that they hold no copywrites and such. Hint!

AnbuShadowFang- Thanks for the first review!! You're awesome, and I hope that this was fast enough!

Bella- Thank you! I will! :)

g

Chapter 2

Sakura frowned as the minutes ticked onto very quiet hours. She felt bad for her words this morning, it's not that she didn't like him, but she wanted someone she could talk to. Neji was the most quiet person she'd ever met. She decided all the same that she should say something. "I'm sorry about this morning." She kept her eyes downcast, looking very intently on her shoes. "I understand, you were wanting someone with a little more social want than me." His face never changed, his expression non existent. "I'm sorry that I'm not what you were hoping for, but Kakashi-senpai nearly begged me to take this mission." Sakura nodded. "He's worried about me, a little too much at times..." She thought back to waking up almost naked. Darn, she knew there was another reason she'd wanted to kill him... Neji nodded. "He chose the right person for protectiveness, but I don't really know what we would talk about..."

Sakura smiled at him. He was doing his best to keep up a conversation, though they both knew that it was already waning.

The rest of the day was spent fairly quiet, just running and the occasional ask for a break, till nightfall when Sakura huffed against a tree. "We're nearly out of the forest. Maybe we should camp here?" She looked up at Neji who nodded. Camp was set up in a matter of minutes, as their sleeping bags only took a minute to set up and Neji used a few of his jutsus to cut off a few of the nearby branches to make a fire. Sakura rummaged through her bag and pulled out a few things to eat for dinner, and began cooking while Neji went to explore a little. She was absolutely horrified to find two things in her bag. The pink thing that she'd gotten from the closet, at first she'd thought it was a set of her pajamas, was actually the set of Lingerie that Ino had gotten her as a gag gift for her last birthday, her nineteenth.

Second was that instead of grabbing the medical book she'd grabbed the latest Icha Icha paradise book by mistake. At least she could figure that one out. Kakashi had gotten her into the habit of reading them, as she was totally chaste, a virgin completely, never even been kissed... She sighed as she put the book away just as Neji reappeared. Thank goodness for little miracles. She didn't want to try and explain her porn addiction to him. "The area's secure." He looked down to find that she'd started dinner for both of them and sat across the fire from her, softly on his sleeping bag. He pulled down his Byakugan which made Sakura tense again. Maybe he had seen after all... She decided not to say anything and kept up with her cooking, noticing the little glances he gave to her bag. Finally after a few minutes she couldn't handle it anymore and huffed. "It was a gag gift, I thought it was something else, and the book is a gift, a habit of mine. Can you please stop staring?"

"There's a spider on your bag." Sakura turned to see a wolf spider sitting on the front of the bag facing Neji and froze, feeling her blood flow to her cheeks and stop at the same time. "I'm tired, just ignore me..." She laughed weakly, causing one eyebrow of the other ninja to raise.

They woke early the next morning and Sakura made sure the fire was just hot enough and pulled out the Lingerie before throwing it into the fire and huffed. She turned to Neji who was now staring at her wide eyed and turned, smiling. "Alright, ready to go!"

They reached the train station in a few hours after that, and the thought of sitting for a few hours was like a god send to her. She'd never admit to it, but all of the time she spent sitting at the tables, looking through books and such had gotten her a little out of shape. She still worked out daily, but she felt her stamina a little on the weak side and slid down into the seat of the private car on the train.

Neji sat and looked out the window and seemed to want to say something, but just didn't. "What's up?" She asked after a few minutes and he turned to her, smiling weakly. "We're headed to see Gaara-sama. The friend of Naruto. I was wondering, if they tried to pull anything, if maybe you had enough pull with him to get us out quickly?" Sakura looked at him and sighed, just happy it wasn't about the burning of her clothing this morning. "Gaara-kun may get us through quickly, I don't know. It would be better, though, if it were Temari handling it. We spent a little time together." Neji nodded, and turned back to the window.

Out of sheer habit, from when she had loose time to spend, she reached into her bag and pulled out her Icha Icha paradise book, right to the page with the silver Konoha bookmark and began reading.

It wasn't for about two hours that Sakura frowned, putting the bookmark back in place and looked up. "Hey, you want to go check out the food car?" Neji sighed, looking out the window and nodded. He grabbed his bag, the one containing the scroll and lists and headed out.

They returned about an hour later, Sakura looked at her bag and knew that it had been gone through. "You kept your bag on you, I wonder if they took anything..." She ruffled through quickly and sighed. Neji noted her face and spoke, his soft voice catching in her ear. "Is anything gone?"

"My Icha Icha paradise book. I was just getting to the good part..." She frowned, but sat, not wanting to go overboard over her book. Neji shook his head lightly, a motion that didn't go unseen and turned his gaze back to the window.

"What was that about?" Sakura looked over at him and he smiled over at her, a gesture she didn't expect to see. "Your book, It's in your front pocket." Sakura turned to her bag and opened it, finding her book in the pocket he'd stated. "If this is there, then where's my diary?" She turned her bag over, pouring out all of the contents and began shifting through, looking for the small pink book. It was gone? "My... My diary..." She stared, mouth agape. "I- I can't believe my diary was taken!"

"Did you write down anything about the hunt?" Neji asked, his eyes again in Byakugan state, looking for another book. "No, I never write down anything about missions, unless it's about something personal that happens on them." Neji nodded. She sifted a little more before something caught her eye. "Dammit, Ino!!" She pulled up a long string of condoms. Neji shook his head, now getting the amusement in the jokes the others played on her. It wasn't the jokes themselves that were funny, but the reactions that she gave. "What's so funny?" She asked and Neji looked up at her, his eyes shifting carefully to the handful of condoms and she jumped, hiding them behind her back. "Oh, Never mind!" She huffed, throwing her stuff back into her bag. She'd forgotten a few things...

They got off of the train late that night and decided to head out a little before camping. They went on for only about an hour before setting up, having eaten on the train they made a fire and fell asleep.

Sakura woke the next morning to find Neji sitting, his head down and she almost could say that he looked afraid. "Neji?" He visibly jumped, turning to see her and turned away quickly, wiping his face. "Sorry, just woke up..." Neji's voice was muffled by his sleeve. "Are you alright?" She crawled over to him, putting her hand on his back. "Yes, I'm alright, I just need to wake up." She watched as he stumbled to his feet and took a few steps out, leaning against a tree.

It took a few minutes till she saw his face again, and after that he was deathly quiet.

They reached Suna after another day, spent mostly quiet, Sakura finding Neji awake the morning after that. They walked up to the main building and opened the door. They were directed to the stairs, and told to go to the eighteenth floor, the third door on the right. They flew up the stairs, getting to the top in about fifteen minutes. "You want to stay in town tonight, head out tomorrow?" Neji thought about this before nodding. "That sounds nice."

They opened the door to find Kankurou staring in at them. "Sakura! How nice to see you again!" Sakura smiled and walked in, holding her hand out. "Kankurou! How are you?" He shook her hand pleasantly and looked over at Neji. "Ah, must be here for the hunt?" They nodded and Kankurou stretched his arms. "The items from the hunt are all available in the bazaar, the scroll has a small trial before you can get it." Neji nodded. "I expected as much." Sakura frowned. "What kind of trial?"

"You have to go through a maze we have here. The first two a day get a scroll, the others have to wait till the next day. It keeps going until either everyone has one or the tournament is over." Sakura slumped. "I take it they've both been gotten today..." Kankurou grinned shaking his head. "For you, Sakura, I'll bend the rules a little. If one of you can make it out in less than an hour, it's yours now. Sound good?" Sakura smiled. "Sure! When do we go?" Kankurou shook his head, crossing his arms. "Only one person per team enters at a time. We can head down now." Sakura looked over at Neji and frowned. "I'm going in." Sakura was about to speak, but froze. "Sakura, It's a maze. With my Byakugan It'll be a lot easier for me to find the end than for you to." Sakura nodded. "Alright, you go." They went down to an outer wall of the city and Neji sighed, activating his Byakugan. "The maze goes in about a mile, the scroll is in the back. You get in and out, alright?" Neji nodded and turned, already seeing some of the path through.

"Go!"

Neji ran in, seeing the path before him open in the dim light that was cast by the carefully carved sconces. He ran as fast as he could, knowing even with his speed that this would be a severe challenge. He started leaking his chakra into his legs, making sure that he would have enough to get to the door, but no more. As the tunnel before him split, forked, ended and began he jumped over, in and out of the walkways that seemed to tunnel on and on, and he wasn't totally sure that he was even on the right one. Byakugan could only see so far, through so much...

He tried to see through the pathways but got confused a little and stopped to try and find the right path. Neji noticed a direct route and grinned as he ran ahead, finding the scroll after about thirty five minutes. "Need to be faster..." He ran as quickly as he could, seeping more chakra into his legs than he should have and finally reached the end at the end of the hour, jumping through the exit just a second before the timer went off.

"Neji! Are you alright?" Sakura ran over, seeing Neji with his hands on his knees, sucking in each breath urgently, and she knew that he'd done it almost purely on chakra. "I... I..."

Neji looked around, seeing nothing but blur before him. "Neji? Are you alright?" He tried to speak, to find the blood in his throat gurgled at the attempt. "Oh, God! Neji!" She grabbed him and flipped him over onto his side, the blood flowing free of his throat. "His back, His shoulder, Stay here for a second, we'll go get more help."

"But I don't know..." She watched them for a moment before turning her gaze back to him. "Neji, just hold on, alright? Please be alright..." He felt the world go even more blurred, knowing he was about to die. At least he was going to go early in life, before he got the chance to get old.

But she called to him again. "Neji!" He could feel the tears on his cheek. Was she crying over him? Her tears ran down his cheek and she put her fingers through the back of his hair, hugging him, her tears streaming down his cheek. "Please, Neji, Please don't die!"

"Sakura... Don't cry..."

He suddenly felt himself growing cold. Was he going to die? She was begging him to live. He couldn't die, not on her like this, He had to live! He had to!

Sakura had just woken up, stretching. She was thankful to Kankurou for helping to get Neji to the room, but ended out getting him into his night cloths by herself. She was happy that he'd worn boxers, as she really didn't want to see him naked. Not to say that his body wasn't intriguing, that the muscular frame that he had wasn't extremely, lip bitingly captivating...

Sakura shook her head. She hadn't had the time to read her book lately. She stretched, feeling the Suna sun rain in on her, warming everything in the room. It felt nice to be able to sleep in.

Neji turned his head in his sleep, gritting his teeth and Sakura turned to him, curious. "Didn't mean- Sorry, I'm-" She stared at the mumbles and stood, wondering if she should wake him or let him sleep through it. She didn't get to decide, though, before he jumped to his knees, coughing and tears streamed down his cheeks. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry..." Sakura stared at him, completely confused at his actions and he opened his eyes, looking around.

Sakura remembered the other day, seeing him in a very similar position. She nearly ran over, running her hand over his back. "Neji, are you alright?" He looked at her, startled for a moment before turning his head away to wipe away the tears. "I'm fine..." He mumbled through his sleeves. "You don't look fine. How long have you been having these nightmares?" She said sweetly, wondering if there was something she could give him to help him sleep better. "Since they were reality..." His voice was softer than usual, the smooth tone surprised her. "I've already gotten Tsunade to try and help, until I get through this there's nothing that can be done." He said flatly. He stood and stumbled, Sakura noticed that he rubbed his shoulder as he stood and made his way to the bathroom, purposefully avoiding her gaze.

They went to the shops after packing up and found the item on their list, a hematite bracelet with the Suna logo on it. They headed out immediately after, Kankurou meeting them at the gate to say good bye.

The next few days were a mystery to Sakura, Neji became even quieter than usual and Sakura felt chills in his eye. As if he really wanted to say something but couldn't. It wasn't until the second week, halfway to the Mist village that Sakura got up the courage to talk to him. "Neji?" He turned to her wordlessly as they rested up against the tree. "I asked you how long you'd had those nightmares, you told me since they were real, I was wondering..." She didn't really know what to ask, but she was suddenly scared to death of him, the suddenly depressed look on his face. "What happened?" Neji frowned at her, not that he was angry, but he really didn't want to talk about it and she knew it. "How about this, you tell me why you have a porn addiction and I'll tell you why I have nightmares."

"What?" Neji looked over at her and raised his eyebrow. "It's very personal to me, something I really don't feel comfortable sharing." Sakura nodded. Not that she was terribly embarrassed by her addiction, but she really didn't want to make him feel uncomfortable. "Fine, How about this. I tell you about my porn addiction and when you feel more comfortable you tell me about your nightmares, alright?" Sakura smiled at him and Neji stared at her, confused for a moment before shrugging. "Alright." It's a lot more than he'd asked for, but he knew that she didn't want him to feel bad.

"I'm nineteen, a virgin, never been kissed. I'm a med nin, one of the best in Konoha, which means I have little free time for things like romance. I may be busy, but I'm not dead. Right after my eighteenth birthday Kakashi-sensei took me aside and told me something that I hadn't even thought of. Sexual frustration is still frustration, and to keep it all in can hinder your abilities, just as much as a any wound. This is the best way to deal with it without becoming a slut." Neji smiled, the word slut never crossed his mind when he thought of her. Maybe haunting was more like it.

It was nearly every night that the nightmare awoke him, feeling nauseous, tears in his eyes, the hopeless empty pit consuming him. It got worse after he woke, especially today, waking to see her there, really there, and it took him a moment to register what was happening. He always felt weak afterwards, not physically, but mentally. What kind of nin wakes in a cold sweat, tears streaming down his face? It's something little girls did, not grown men. He sighed, standing and looked down at her, deciding right then that he really did want to get to be closer friends with her. "I don't think of you as a slut." Sakura grinned. "Of course you don't. You know I'm a virgin. Don't, uh, tell anyone though, alright?" She pleaded and he looked down at her, confused. "What?"

"No one knows. I kind of told them that, uh, me and Sai, and he agreed not to say anything. It was my eighteenth birthday present from him, to stop hearing people tell me that I'm too... Innocent." Neji smiled at her and she stopped. His hair cascaded across his face, the sun shining through the leaves in the trees and for a brief moment he looked... Beautiful to her. She watched, her eyes widening as she took in the image. "Innocence isn't necessarily a bad thing." Sakura looked at him, snapping out of her trance. "You say that as if you know what I'm going through." Neji nodded, the smile on his face nearly as beautiful as the sun in his hair. "Well, I don't really know about the porn addiction, but I'm just as much of an innocent, a virgin as you." Sakura raised her eyebrow. "Ino kept telling us that you ravaged her on her seventeenth birthday."

"No, She got really drunk and Sasuke used his Sharingan to make her see what she wanted. I guess I was it." Sakura laughed, her hand over her mouth. "Oh, that's great!"

"We tried to tell her, but you know Ino." It took Sakura a moment to regain herself and they continued along, each with a smile and a little blush. They'd both noticed the look on the other's face and for once felt a little more comfortable.

Hey all! I'm trying to work this one out, though it may be quite a bit shorter than my previous fics! I'm going to start right in on the next chappy, so see you all soon!

Jasminflower69


	3. Chapter 3

Hey all! I said I was going to get right to work, and now I show you that I am!

Disclaimer- no own.

Chapter 3

It was three weeks out, one more week till they finally reached the Mist village and they were sitting on a bench in a small village, thrilled to run across civilization. "I can't wait to get in a shower! The inn looks really nice!" Neji nodded looking around, sitting on the back of the bench, Sakura sitting on the bench normally beside him. "This village is very quiet." He noted and raised his fingers, gaining Sakura's attention. "Byakugan." She gave him a moment to look around and noticed his frown. "Is everything alright?" Neji nodded absently, continuing his look. "There's a lot of small children here. It seems as if the villagers are reproducing as quickly as possible." Sakura looked up at him and giggled, her hand over her mouth. "The Hidden Sex village." She said to herself but earned a small smile and head shake from Neji.

Neji looked up quickly, earning a silent moment from Sakura. He narrowed his eyes and looked back down to her. "Sakura, you need to stay by my side no matter what." She looked up at him and frowned. She'd wanted a room of her own, but had a feeling that after a comment like that she wasn't going to get it. "What do you see?"

"I just have a feeling, it's too quiet here." She nodded, noticing that though the town was full of people theirs were the only voices she heard. She turned and frowned again. "Neji, do you see any birds?" He looked around and nodded. "Yes, but they seem to be staying out of the village itself. Maybe we should move on, there's another village just about two hours that way..." He pointed and Sakura stared. "Can you see that far?"

"No, I looked at the map." He looked down at her and earned a shrug. "I don't know how far you see with the Byakugan. Sometimes it seems as though you can see the whole world..." He looked down at her, head cocked and she realized she spoke out loud, waving her hand. "Ah! Ignore me..." She stood and lifted her hand, reaching for her bag. "Let's get going then." She pulled her bag onto her back and he stood, grabbing his as well. "You're ready to go to the next village on my instinct?" Sakura turned to him and smiled. "I've noticed your instincts tend to be right on, and I'm not one to tempt fate." Sakura stated honestly and Neji nodded, placing his bag on his back.

As he said, there was another village about two hours away and they sat at the bench in the center of town again, this time noticing the people who were all about and seemed to be partying something fierce. "Excuse me, Sir," Sakura stopped one man who was dancing in the streets to the music that was being played a few yards away at a small stage in the center of the park. "What's going on here?"

"It's the fiftieth anniversary of our independence! It was this day, fifty years ago that we were freed from the tyrannical country of the water!" Sakura nodded and thanked the man before looking over at Neji. "I didn't realize that the country of the water was this far out." Neji nodded and looked around, almost relaxed. "The party you see before you, this is why we separated into the five nations in the first place. Many of the countries back then were trying to take over, and it seems that this village got what it wanted." Sakura nodded, which turned to a head bob as the music caught her ears. Neji looked at her and smiled as she absently danced, not wildly or anything, she shook her shoulders and bobbed her head, smiling as the people walked by, many of them doing the same thing she was doing.

Neji knew that he was opening up to her, He knew that she was feeling more comfortable with him as well. He'd hoped that this would happen, as they'd never really been close to each other, he wanted to get to know her, what kind of person she'd become and she was turning out to be everything he thought she would be. He smiled absently at her, gaining her eye with his soft smile. "What?"

"You're dancing." She smiled up, the last little bit of light from the day, the red hues across the sky reflecting off of her hair and turned her hair almost peach. "It's a catchy tune! I'm surprised you're not dancing." Sakura heard something she never thought she would. He laughed. She jumped up and grabbed him by the arm, pulling him over to the dance floor with their bags in her other hand. Neji shook his head as she pulled him out and she looked at him as they got to the foot of the stage grinning. "Dance with me!" Neji stepped back, grinning. "I don't dance!" He shouted, the music still nearly drowning him out. "Everyone's dancing! No one will notice you! Dance with me!" She grinned and started dancing. Neji watched her movements and after a minute tried to mimic them.

She returned to her grin when he started dancing, trying not to show him that she was paying attention to him. After a minute the music changed to a slow song and Sakura froze, looking up at the band, who returned her confused look with a grin directly at her. She shook her head and Neji smiled, shaking his head. "This is why I don't dance." She frowned at him and before he could protest, pulled him over to her, wrapping her arms around his waist and rested her head on his shoulder, swaying to the music.

If she'd leaned back to look she would have seen a blush that would have put Hinata to shame. He tried his best to keep his hands at a decent place on her hips, not to move too fast, or to move in the wrong way, but every second seemed to remind him how close he was to the pink kunoichi.

He didn't speak much after that, unable to banish the odd red tint from his cheeks and Sakura grinned as they reached the hotel. "It was just a dance! You don't have to blush like that!" She teased as they walked in and the man at the counter smiled knowingly. "She forced you to dance at a slow song, huh?" Sakura looked at the man as Neji nodded. "Believe it or not, it happens at least once a year. That's how many of the couples on the village came to be." He winked at Sakura who shook her head. "It's not like that! We're just friends!" She laughed and the man at the counter grinned. "So were me and my wife." Sakura froze and Neji looked down, his blush getting worse.

It was amazing that they were able to get a room not using nearly any words. With the party, there were a few visitors from other villages and there was only one room left at the inn, the man behind the counter grinned especially wide for that part. They walked in and looked around. It was a nice room, cherry wood seemed to be the whole composition for the room. Green chairs and walls and bedsheets...

She jumped into the shower, washing away her strains. She grabbed the robe and covered, looking at her dark pink hair in the mirror and smiled. Neji would be waiting to get in here next, and Sakura was suddenly worried about her virtues. She walked out, finding him watching her as she got her cloths out of the bag and walked over to the small washer in the corner of the room. "Shower's open." She stated, although they both knew it was just to break the silence. He stood and Sakura turned to him as he went into the other room. His shirt was gone, he wore only his pants and Sakura was suddenly really feeling the urge to feel what the skin on his back felt like.

By the time he came out, she was laying on the bed, reading her book. She felt a sudden increase in need to read it right then, and though she'd been through a whole chapter it didn't seem to be doing the trick anymore. She nearly slammed the book shut and shoved it into her bag, causing Neji to raise his eyebrow again. "Book not cutting it?" He suddenly realized what he said and clapped his hand over his mouth in a very unNeji like way. Sakura turned to him, not sure whether to feel violated or tell him the truth, that he was right. She settled for shaking her head like a madman and blushing like an idiot. He laid down on the bed next to her, the robe he wore showed off a bit of his chest and She couldn't barely keep her eyes on his. He kept his eyes focused on the ceiling as he spoke again.

"Sakura, we need to talk." She sighed, nodding and sat up, preparing for him to tell her that she was being childish, that she needed to keep her mind on the mission instead of him, and was surprised to hear his next words. "We need to keep closer together."

"Huh?" Neji looked up at her, smiling. "I've wondered about you for a while, as we don't get too many missions together, and this has shown me that we need to keep more in touch." Sakura wondered if he knew what she was thinking when he said touch, the word itself sent shivers down her spine. He sat up and put a blanket over her, causing a blush. "I talk to Naruto all the time, He's told me a bit about how you're doing, but to actually spend time with you, it's a little..." He took a moment to think out the next word. "Refreshing." She smiled at him, feeling her frustration ease down a little.

His first thought was to say and do exactly what she was thinking, but he couldn't stand to b the one to hurt her. He didn't want her to pull away, and the thought that he cared that much, to think of a way around it, to not be brutally honest, it worried him a little. Maybe he was just as bad as she was. He'd noticed the glances, the little smiles that she hid, and he had noticed that her books were coming out more and more often. Dragging him to the stage and dancing with him, though, he didn't know how to handle it. What if it came down to something in battle? Would he be able to keep his eyes on his own fight? Would he be able to let her fight at all? He sighed, looking away shyly and Sakura noticed the look. "Is everything alright?" He looked up at her and smiled, nodding.

"Perfect." He sat up. He wanted to tell her, all of a sudden. He wanted to tell her that the nightmares he'd had, that they were about disappointing her. That he actually remembered her crying over him after the fight against Orochimaru's spider freak. That she was the reason he'd chosen to keep fighting to live. He sighed and looked up at her, Her eyes watching him closely. "It's been a long day, I'm going to sleep." He smiled and Sakura nodded. "Alright." She smiled and he leaned back, closing his eyes.

He awoke the next morning to find that even though he'd had his normal nightmare, he woke without the nausea, without the jump. He opened his eyes to find her curled up on his shoulder, her head nearly on his chest. He watched the slight intake of breath her eyes seemed to be dancing behind their lids and she suddenly giggled, a blush crossing her cheek. Neji smiled back, wondering what the dream was about that cheered her up like this.

"Sakura." He whispered softly and she slowly opened her eyes, looking into his. Her blush got worse as she realized where she was and jumped back, gasping. "Oh! Neji, I'm so sorry!" She bowed her head, trying to hide the worsening blush. He looked over at her and had the urge to reach forwards and kiss her... "It's alright. It was a cold night, you were warm." He smiled, the words and the smile causing her blush to reach down her neck.

He looked around the room, noticing that his cloths were cleaned and folded, waiting for him. He walked over and turned to Sakura who smiled. "I thought you might like to have them cleaned." He smiled at her, running his hand over the material. It was softer than normal. She must have used something special to clean them. "Thank you." He wandered into the bathroom, getting dressed.

By the time he had gotten dressed, brushed his hair and put it back into the normal holder, brushed his teeth and made sure that his headband was in place, he hadn't realized that she'd be getting dressed as well. He opened the door to see her slip off the robe and stretch, her naked figure caught the sunlight from the window just right...

He closed the door. He couldn't see her like that again. His willpower was faltering already and that hadn't helped. He sighed, trying to think of major turn offs so as to be able to walk again.

Sakura heard the door open, but wasn't paying attention to where it was from. There was a couple down the hall that had been specifically loud last night, and she figured it was them. She stretched her hands to the sky, basking in the feeling of the warm sun. She was used to running around her house naked, and had forgotten about the need to wear cloths all the time when on missions. She needed it, just a minute...

She realized that Neji was in the bathroom, and that he'd been in there for a while. "Uh, Neji, did you just..."

"Yes." She turned red, getting dressed as quickly as possible. "I'm sorry! I thought you'd be in there a little longer! I hadn't meant to-"

"Are you dressed yet?" He asked, a little impatiently. "Almost!" She buckled the straps to the side of the skirt and made sure that the shorts were pulled down as much as possible. "I'm dressed!" He opened the door and saw her eyes lock onto him. His hair was pulled back, but he knew that it was softer than usual. He'd gone ahead and used the hotel's shampoo, as they didn't really have to worry about enemy nin on this mission. He didn't have to worry about being sniffed out. "You have beautiful hair..." She said, a little surprised at the way it swayed when he walked, the slightest wind caused it to flow, almost as if he were in water. He looked at her and couldn't help but chuckle at the look on her face, the surprise at the look of someone's hair as she did the last button on her shirt. He turned his head away before the urge to undo the shirt again came to him. "Let's head out. There was a restaurant downstairs, we'll get some food then head back out." She nodded as they grabbed their bags.

They ate nearly silently. When they went to the front desk to turn in the key the man from the previous night was there. "So, you two have fun?" He grinned, causing a blush from both of them. "Like we said, it's not like that!"

"But now the thought's entered your heads, now you've realized that there's something in the other person that you do see like that. I can tell." He looked between them and Sakura frowned at him. "Sir! What kind of ninja do you think we are?" Neji looked over at her, raising his eyebrow at the streak of over-dramatic ranting. The man looked at her and his grin eased down to a soft, sweet smile. "I think you're both human." Sakura froze, her hand with the key before her and the man reached out, taking it. "I hope you two enjoyed your stay."

They were quiet for a bit on the way that day. Sakura kept having the words from the man at the counter running through her head. "I think you're both human." Most people, save the other nins, didn't see her as a human. She assumed that the man did the same, but for him to so easily tell her that, to tell her exactly what she needed to hear.

They noticed the amount of conversation between them raise over the next week. They reached the Mist village on the verge of tears, laughing about the time that Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto tried to get a peek under Kakashi's mask. Neji shook his head, wiping a tear from under his eye. "How did you survive them as your team?!" Sakura shrugged and turned to him. "As if you have it any better! We made so many jokes about you and Ten-ten cowering in fear from Gai and Lee's springtime of youth stuff!" Neji laughed harder, remembering a situation that went remarkably just like that. "You get used to it after a while." Sakura shook her head. "I don't think I could ever get used to being around two men wearing green spandex." She looked over at Neji and silently thought, except, maybe...

"We're there!" He looked up at the tower and they smiled as they walked in. "Hello, we're here for the scavenger hunt." Sakura said at the counter and the woman smiled. "We have our trial here, but this one's at least faster than the Konoha one..." She rolled her eyes and they frowned. They would have to do that one still. She noticed the stare and gasped, standing. "You have to go there still, don't you? Oh, at least they probably used a test that you don't have to worry about." She waved nervously. "What's Konoha's test?"

"You can't trade in your scroll without, uh, Well, you have to 'be' with one of their ninjas." Sakura stared at the woman, shocked and confused. "WHAT?!" She turned to Neji who had a similar look on his face. "I don't think that my fake one night stand with Sai will count here, or your fake encounter with Ino through Sasuke's Sharingan. What do we do about this?!"

"Worry about this village first." Sakura froze. He was right, but what was the point if they failed in Konoha? "What's the trial here?"

"A kiss." Neji stared. "What?"

"You two have to kiss, ten seconds, and make it saucy. We're having way too much fun with this, as you can tell." She pointed to the other side of the lobby, which was full of onlookers, staring at them with naughty grins. "Lecherous perverts!" Sakura yelled at them, hands on hips. She turned to Neji. "Uh, don't you think this is a little far for a mission?" Neji looked at her, sighing. "It's just a kiss, we should be alright." Sakura shrugged, feeling her shoulders draw forwards in fear. "Neji, please, give me a second..." She gasped for air, feeling suddenly terrified. He looked at her, activating his Byakugan. "Sakura, are you alright?" She shook her head. "Panic- attack-" She was on the verge of hyperventilating and Neji knelt down beside her, putting his hand on her back. "You seem alright."

"I didn't want my first kiss to be for a mission!" She gasped again, the pain in her lungs causing tears to seep from the corners of her eyes. Neji smiled sadly at her, his hand keeping it's track from her shoulder to the small of her back. "I didn't think that kissing me was quite this bad." He smiled weakly, trying to lighten the mood. "It's not that! It's not that at all! I just, I really had hoped to have my first kiss on my own time..." Her hyperventilating subsided and the woman behind the counter frowned. "I didn't realize that there were any ninjas that hadn't had their first kiss yet, especially at your age." Neji looked up at the woman, frowning. "It would be mine too." Sakura froze. She'd forgotten Neji telling her that he was just as much an 'innocent' as her. "Neji, what do you think?" He looked at her and shrugged. "If you're going to hyperventilate then we can pass, I guess Tsunade can't get too mad at us." Sakura remembered what Tsunade had said, five million, she had to do it. "It's five million, Neji. I can't break the news to Tsunade that I couldn't kiss you to get a new academy." Neji nodded. She stood, wiping the last of the tears from her eyes and held her breath for a second. "Wait!" She reached into her back pack and pulled out a small bag, placing a small white ball on her tongue. She held her hand up for a moment before putting the bag back in her bag. "What was that?"

"A breath mint." She stated, blushing a little, surprised by Neji's smile and head shake again. "What, do you want one? I don't know what to do here..." Neji decided to take over from there and reached forwards, putting his hands on her shoulders and pulled her forwards, bringing their lips together. She was surprised at the warmth she felt from him, and that it made it harder for her to breathe. She closed her eyes, the feeling of her blood flowing, the sensation washing over her of being this close to him... She suddenly felt a pit in her stomach. She wanted more...

She brought her hands up to his cheeks, catching him off guard and ran her fingers back, through his hair, pushing her lips a little harder against his. She noticed a sound from him that she'd never heard before, like the precursor to a moan and though she thought she should stop, she couldn't. She lightly sucked at his bottom lip, causing him to tense his hands. He pulled them off of her shoulders and placed them on her waist, trying to keep from hurting her. He wanted so badly to kiss her back as much as she was kissing him, but with the faltering of his will as of late, he figured it wouldn't be the best idea to ravage her right there.

He felt his whole body tense when she leaned into him. He ran his hands up her back, wrapping his fingers in her pink hair and finally lost a little of his inhibitions, kissing her back. She opened her mouth slightly, just enough to allow him to slip his tongue in over hers. She tasted sweet, though the mint had already worn off, she tasted like peach. She ran her hands down his sides, every inch making it harder for him to think. He gasped at the touch, feeling all of the blood in his body shift to areas that he really didn't want it to. She reached back up, her hands hard against his back and pulled his chest to hers, eliciting a slight moan. "Sakura..."

"Kiss broke!" The woman at the counter chirped and Neji stood back, his hands on his knees, gasping for air. Sakura seemed to be in a similar state. "How- Long?" Sakura finally gasped out and the woman looked at the stopwatch. "Almost a full minute!" Sakura looked up at her, eyes wide and blush gaining in color at speeds she didn't even know were possible. "What?!"

"Fifty seven point eight two seconds." Sakura shook her head, exasperated. "Why didn't you stop us?!"

"You looked like you were having fun!" Sakura looked up at the woman, hearing the cheers start from the other side of the room. "Definitely the best kiss we've had this year! For that," The woman handed out a ribbon. "Show that to the woman at the inn." She winked as she opened the scroll, writing something down on it. "Remember, no peeking!" She handed it to Neji, who was still having trouble standing. Neji nodded and took the scroll, finally standing to full height. Sakura grinned at him, taking him by the arm and they nearly ran from the building. Sakura leaned back on the outside of the building, catching her breath. "That was terrifying!" She nearly yelled, exasperated. Neji looked up at her and smiled, noting the excitement in her voice. "So, I guess I wasn't THAT bad a kisser." Sakura looked up at him and grinned. "Yeah, you may want to practice. I'm free for the rest of the mission." Neji shook his head, holding back his jubilation at the whole situation. So, she wasn't against kissing him again. Hm.

They got to the inn, and Sakura had the ribbon in her hand as she looked for the pouch containing her money. "Ah, you got the best kissers of the year award! You get a special room, on the house!" Sakura looked up, then down at the ribbon. She'd forgotten about that... But a room on the house wasn't something to turn down so they smiled at the woman.

The young man who was the bellhop or something showed them to the room, grinning like an idiot. Sakura raised her eyebrow, wondering what was so amusing when he opened the door.

Hey! I'm still working, though I had to completely erase the chapter and rewrite it twice! Finally happy with the way it turned out! I'm already half a page into the next chappy, so see ya soon!

Jasminflower69


	4. Chapter 4

Hey all! I'm back at it! By the time I realized where I was on the last chapter I had about half of a page of this written. I'm hoping, therefore, to have this one out a little sooner than the last one.

AnbuShadowFang, Thanks for reading and reviewing! You don't know how great it is to know at least one person is actually enjoying what you write! I really appreciate it!

Disclaimer- Nah, I really do own this. That's why I'm getting paid millions of dollars to have this here. And if you believe this, I have a few things that belonged to the Queen I'd like to sell you...

Chapter 4

The shower was in the bedroom. The whole room was pastel green and scented like roses and vanilla. "Is this a... a bar?" Sakura wandered into the room and turned about thirty shades of red. "Oh you sick fucks..." Neji turned to her, a little surprised to hear something like that come out of her mouth. "It's the honeymoon suite." Neji looked around, realizing that she was right and again turned red. The shower was in the bedroom, a very large shower built into the room with clear glass walls around it. Sakura turned and looked at the Bellhop as he placed the bags on the floor. He looked up at the bowl full of condoms and grinned as he headed out. Sakura stared at the condoms and crossed her arms. "When we get back, can you remind me to beat Ino with as many condoms as possible?" Neji would have laughed if he wasn't too far in shock from the room himself.

There were chocolate covered strawberries on the bar, condoms of every type and flavor in bowls all over the room. "Look, these ones glow in the dark." Sakura raised her eyebrow and lifted one, ripping open the bag and unrolling the contents. Neji watched her confused as she put it in her cupped hands and put it over her eyes to see how well they glowed. She seemed happy with them, so she emptied the contents of the bowl into her bag. "What are you doing?"

"If I run out of light sticks those might come in handy." Neji looked at her and nearly laughed, still horrified. "Only you could find a way to keep a bowl of condoms mission related." Sakura nodded. "I use them on missions a lot, actually. The ribbed ones are great for tying things together that need a little stretch, but still need to be firmly in place. The flavored ones draw in certain insects. Shino taught me that one." All he could do was stare at her, surprised. "Not to mention, they're great at holding splints in place around the wrist. You have to tear finger holes in them, though." Neji shook the image of having a condom on his hand out of his head. Sakura turned to the shower and frowned. She wanted to get in a shower, and she really didn't want to push Neji out of the room, but she didn't think it was wise to do both at the same time. Neji noted her longing look at the shower and realized he was going to have the same problem. She walked behind the glass and looked out. She couldn't see very much, and she was thrilled with that, as maybe he couldn't see in very well either. "Hey, Neji, how well can you see in here?" He looked up at the glass and frowned. "I duh, don't thi-he-" He began stammering and Sakura nodded. "You can see in here well, can't you?"

"It's not, I mean, we're in here together..." Sakura smiled. It was the thought that they were together in the room that got to him. "If that's all, I'm going to get a shower in." She stripped off her cloths, tossing them onto a hook at the side of the shower and turned the water on, letting it run down her. She was hoping that the shower could cool her a little bit, she may not have really been there much in her life, but she knew what that feeling was that she had, the pit in her stomach that still hadn't gone away. She raised her hands above her head and let the water run down her for a little bit.

Neji had tried to tell her that the glass was seamless on his end, and that he could see every inch of her, but the words wouldn't come out. He watched her as she ran her hands up the other side other side of the shower, the water changing the color of her hair to a deeper pink, almost purple. Her skin glistened as she leaned forwards, showing him a little glance at the pink she had on the other end...

"Can you really not see out here?!" He gasped out, doing everything in his power to keep from running in and joining her. She turned and looked at him, a little confused for a moment and asked. "Why?"

"It's crystal clear out here." She looked at him for a moment before grabbing at the towel. "Why didn't you tell me?!"

"I tried! I, I- uh... the words... d-didn't-"

"You're talking like Hinata." She frowned and Neji jumped up from the bed, covering his eyes. He walked over to a door and walked through, keeping his eyes closed till he was through. He looked around to see the bathroom. There was a shower in there as well. He sniffed. He'd just gotten a good look at her because they didn't look in the bathroom. He shrugged and opened the door. "Sakura, I'm going to get a shower too."

"Wait, there's one in there?!" Neji closed the door and turned, grinning. That, he had to admit, was nice.

He stripped off his cloths and knew with all that had happened today, he really needed to get out his frustrations.

Sakura happened to have the same thought.

She actually wasn't that upset with him seeing her, actually she was kind of thrilled about it. She wanted him to see her. She frowned and looked over at the bathroom door. Since when was Neji the one she wanted to see her naked? Things had really changed in the last few weeks.

After her shower Sakura turned off the water and dried off, wrapping herself in one of the robes. It was a very soft silk, light blue with sakura branches and flowers across the bottom and the sleeves. She was unable to find any clean undergarments in her bag and went over, throwing her cloths into the washing machine. She looked down, at the shortness of the robe and frowned. All she had to do was sit wrong. She sat on the bed and covered herself with the blanket.

Neji came out in the other robe, a dark blue made out of the same silk. Neji wasn't happy with the fact that it only came to his knees, nor was he happy with the fact that his three sets of boxers he'd brought, he'd lost one along the way, one was in his bag and was in need of washing after they had to walk through a creek and he'd fallen. The ones he'd been wearing, when he stepped out of the shower he'd stepped on them. They were soaked. He frowned as he came out, tugging at the side of the robe, making sure that it was closed enough, even though he knew she couldn't see anything.

Sakura was curled up on the bed, the chocolate covered strawberries beside her and her book in hand. "Sakura, I didn't mean for that to happen." Sakura shrugged and turned back to her book. Neji was a little put off by her reaction. "I was thinking," Neji looked up at her, curious. "She didn't say whether we were going to have to lose... you know... She didn't mention if we were going to have to with each other." Neji winced at the words. He had done his best to put it out of his mind. Neji sat beside her and nodded. "Yeah, I noticed that too."

"Neither one of us have any experience with this sort of thing..." Neji looked over at her, a blush crossing his cheeks. "W-w-what are you suggestin-n-n-n-ng?" His stutter had gotten worse. "We'll have about three days, as there's a train right from here to the next scroll, and another train right from there to Konoha. We'll be home in a week. Maybe we should get, you know, a little more comfortable?" Neji stared at her, surprised. "Comfortable?"

"I'd rather have you feel me up than Sai or Naruto. You're not after sex, you just might... you know, need to... to get through the mission. I'd feel better if I knew what to expect." Neji held his hand up to his nose, trying to stop the nosebleed before it began.

She watched his reaction and sighed, looking away, shy and pulling the covers a little farther over herself. "I understand if you don't want to. I just thought..."

"It's good, except that we have absolutely no idea of what to practice. For all we know they're going to have Jarayia jump you."

"We won't pass, then." Neji was kind of happy to hear that. She'd mess around with him for practice but wouldn't let Jarayia have his way with her for a five million ryo mission. "Alright, uh, we can..." he looked down. He knew this was going to be harder than he thought, considering he already was. She laid him down and laid down next to him, her head on his chest. He laid there for a little bit, the feeling of her through the robes was amazing. The silk let him feel every little bit of her and he was suddenly aware that she wasn't wearing anything under her robe. He felt her against his side.

"S-s-sakura, I really don't think that th-h-his is a good id-d-d-dea." Sakura looked up at him, a little surprised. She sat up, looking at him and frowned. "We haven't done anything." Neji sat up, his back arched over and gasped for air. "Woah, are you alright?" She pressed her hands against his neck and he nodded. "I'm fine, great" He shook his head. Sakura looked at him and nodded. She curled up on the bed, facing the other way so as to hide her face. She didn't want him to see the disappointment.

He looked over at her and frowned. "I guess we're in more trouble than we thought." She nodded, wordlessly. He knew what that meant. "Sakura, you misunderstand." She sat up and looked at him, her blush now burning from embarrassment. "That you can't even cuddle up to me for a mission? It's no wonder I'm like this..." She didn't want to use the V word in front of him after that.

"Sakura, it's so frustrating!" She'd never heard him raise his voice without there being a fight and looked at him surprised. "I'm doing my best here, I'm trying my best to behave! You don't know how many times I've told myself to just keep my mind on the mission, once it's over, once the daily contact is over that you won't- you won't look at me like that anymore." His voice lowered to nearly a whisper at the last part and Sakura stared at him, a little surprised. He chuckled a little as he continued. "I'm wondering how those little glances would last if you found out that the mission was supposed to last forever..." Sakura stared at him, the meaning in his words hitting her. "Neji..."

"Don't!" He shook his head, jumping from the bed. "Just, don't get yourself any more ruined over this mission. I already have your first kiss, I don't want you to hate me anymore than you already will once we get back." He walked into the bathroom, getting dressed and then he walked out. "I'll see you in the morning at the lobby."

They found the crystal roses and got onto the train. The whole of the next four days was spent silently. They got off of the train in the Star village. "The Hoshikage, I just hope that he doesn't hate us..."

Fortunately for them, that wasn't even an issue. "Hi! Welcome to the Star village! Sakura, Neji, I haven't seen you in a while!" There was a bit of time spent in deep conversation, chatting about whatever crossed their minds, till Finally Neji spoke up. "We're actually here on business." He pulled out the scroll and the eyes of the girl at the counter grinned. "Ah, the scavenger hunt, huh?" They nodded and she grinned, handing them a piece of paper.

"To whom this may concern,

To get the passages written to your scroll you must pull a trial from the basket at the counter. The secretary will be more than happy to assist you with whatever you need.

Sincerely

Hoshikage"

Neji frowned. "You don't have any in there like the one in Konoha, do you?" She grinned, nodding as she shook the basket. "These are so much fun! We haven't had a couple complain yet!" Neji looked up at the woman and smiled sweetly. "We're actually not a couple." She looked at him a little surprised before sighing. "Ah, I understand. These may be a little more difficult for you then." Neji looked over at Sakura who was still wasn't speaking much. She shook her head, indicating for Neji to draw the trial. "Do we get a redraw if we don't like the one we get?" She shook her head. "One trial per team, sorry!" Neji frowned. "Can I cheat?" The woman looked at him confused. "If you can, then do." Neji nodded and used his Byakugan to see through the basket at the intricate writing on the small slips of paper. "All but a few of them are sexual, the others are like small missions. This one is to kiss again, but I don't think you're interested..." Neji kept his fingers sifting, looking through the papers before he finally looked over at Sakura and pulled one out. "I choose this one, and I choose myself." Sakura looked over at him as he handed the paper over to the woman. "Oh! Are you sure? This is pretty harsh." Neji nodded. "If it keeps her happy, I'll do it." Sakura was now really curious about the paper. "Neji, what does it say?"

"You remember the poison on the other end of town, at the bottom of the chasm?" Sakura nodded. "I have to spend five minutes down there." Sakura's eyes widened. "Neji! No! It could kill you!" Neji shook his head. "If I die then I'll definitely be down there longer than five minutes. Just take the scroll, get the item on the list then take the train back." Sakura stared at him, surprised. "It's not worth it! Neji, you can't do this!"

"I have to. I've already handed it in. Sakura, as I said, once you get back to town you'll be fine. You'll forget about me and be able to get on with your life." Sakura felt the tickle of tears at the corner of her eyes. "Neji, I don't want to forget about you!"

Neji shook his head, the small smile in place that he had when she gave a joke. "I never knew how much I wanted to hear those words. It's too bad that I know it won't work out." He turned and followed the woman to the end of town. Sakura ran behind and as they got to the end Sakura looked down, noticing the total lack of movement, no birds, fish, anything. "Neji, I'll allow this under one condition."

"There will be no conditions." He said, his voice almost cold. Sakura frowned, shrugged off her bag and ran down before he could stop her. "Sakura! What are you doing?!" She turned, about thirty feet under the mist and frowned up at him, her feet sticking to the wall of the cliff. "Is this in far enough?"

"Uh, yeah." the woman nodded and Sakura looked over at Neji. "I told you I wouldn't let you do this, I tried to give you a condition and you wouldn't listen to me!" She shouted up at him. "Neji, you should know, after I turned fourteen, after I realized that Sasuke wasn't the same anymore, I haven't had crushes! I'm not one to give my heart lightly, and you just blow it off!" She yelled, feeling her head spin from the fumes. She sat, leaning back on the cliff and looked up at the sky. "Sakura, Please, whatever you want, just come back up, let me do this trial and I'll do whatever you want! Please, just come back up!" Sakura looked up at him and smiled. "Couldn't you tell, Neji? This was what I wanted, you to live." She smiled, ignoring his pleas for the next few minutes. "How long do I have left?" She finally yelled up and the woman looked at the stopwatch. "One minute, ten seconds!" Sakura laughed,knowing she didn't have the strength to walk back out. The poison was too far into her bloodstream. "Neji, It was nice to travel with you. I hope, next time that you find someone that you like, that you can be happy with them." She felt the world slip for a second and looked up. "Time's up!"

"Sakura, come back up!" She shook her head. "I can't. I've used too much chakra, the poison's too deep already. In just a second I'll fall. I'm sorry, Neji." She felt her eyes roll back before she plunged to the water below.

It was the next day that she woke up, looking around to find that she was in the hospital. "Huh?" She sat up, feeling her head spin. "Don't stand up! You'll just fall over again." The nurse ran to her and put her hand on her shoulder to push her back down. Sakura looked up at her and frowned. "How did I get here?"

"I think it had something to do with him." She pointed and Sakura looked over to find Neji asleep in a chair beside her. "We offered him a room at the inn, but he wouldn't take it. He said he wanted to be here when you woke up. We weren't sure if you were going to make it for a while." She shook her head and Sakura looked up at her. "Wasn't it just some sort of pollen mixed with sulfur? A simple antihistamine should have done the trick." The nurse shook her head. "It's a complex poison. It's considered incurable. We usually lose the people who go down there. You were lucky to make it out alive." Sakura looked over at Neji and frowned. "I doubt I'll feel very lucky when he wakes up. Or maybe even alive." The nurse looked at her, confused. "He's going to kill me."

On her way out the nurse 'accidentally' nudged Neji awake. He looked up at Sakura, still a little groggy. "Sakura?" He sat up and looked at her. "Sakura, I'm sorry. I hadn't meant to hurt you." his eyes were still half closed and Sakura looked at him, getting worried. "Neji, are you alright?"

"I got a bit of the poison in me as well. I told them to take care of you. I can fight off just a few minutes, but with the state you were in, poisoned and half drowned, I couldn't have them worried about me with you in that condition." Sakura looked at him as he tried to stand and slipped back into the chair hard. "Nurse! He needs help!"

He grumbled from the hospital bed next to hers. He'd almost lost consciousness, and was now pumped full of medication to help push the poison out of his system. "You would have to have me incarcerated as well." Sakura smiled over at him, her eyes a mix of pity and amusement. "You had been sitting there for who knows how long, sleeping while the poison forced it's way farther into your system. Of course I'm going to have you medicated, I'm a med nin." The nurse happened to be walking by at that time and looked over at Sakura, eyebrow raised. "A med nin, huh?"

"I was trained by Tsunade, of the three legendary Sannin, the Hokage of Konoha." The woman smiled sweetly at Sakura and shook her head. "I think the poison may be still working it's way out of your system." She looked over at Neji, who stared at her, wide eyed. "Sakura, she doesn't know you, she doesn't know who you are. Don't do anything rash." Sakura frowned at the nurse and then smiled. "Tell me the name of the plant that mixes with the sulfur."

It was about three hours later that she had an antidote for the poison and the nurse bowed graciously. "I'm so sorry that I doubted you! I never would have thought that you'd be this good!" Sakura shook her head. "This was nothing. Just before headed out for this I spent about a month working on an anti-fungal serum for tomatoes. It was actually causing the tomatoes to corrode as if dipped in acid. That was a hard time. This was a cake walk." She smiled and the woman grinned. "You'll want to rest for the next day, so we've taken the liberty of getting you a room at the inn. You're also to get the scavenger hunt item for free and we're going to get you a bit of money as a reward. We've been offering a million ryo for an antitoxin, but we're going a little over for you. Sakura stared. "A million?!"

"Yeah, but we're getting you the best room at the inn and we're paying all expenses for you. It's closer to one million point three." Sakura looked over at Neji who stared at her happily. "Well, Sakura, you're rich." Sakura grinned and nodded. "Now I can actually get a house instead of the apartment I'm in!" She grinned and Neji shook his head, smile in place.

Hey all! Trying to work on this is going to be a little more difficult, as my laptop's AC cord has had a terrible death. Aparently I'm too hard on them and I'm not supposed to go through two in as many years. Fortunately, while my hubby's at work I can steal his cord, which is what I'm doing now! Yay!!

Anywhoo, I'll talk to you all soon!

Jasminflower69


	5. Chapter 5

Hey! I'm going to be writing as much as possible, I'm actually hoping to have a new cord in about two weeks, but I honestly think I'll be done with the story by then. I can't be sure, I don't know where I'm going to add a whole lot, but I think I'm going to be having way too much fun with this.

Oh yeah!

Kittel Kat- Here it is! Tell me what you think!

AnbuShadowFang- no review this time? :(

Disclaimer- If you don't know what a disclaimer is, you're at the wrong site!

Chapter 5

Sakura walked into the room, her head still spinning a little. She didn't even bother looking around the room, or recognize the fact that Neji was behind her, she stripped off her clothing and laid down on the bed, falling almost instantly to sleep.

Neji was in the same state, having the meds from the hospital still running through him and did the same, stripping down and falling asleep instantly.

Sakura woke about three hours later, stretching and heard grumbling from next to her. She looked over at Neji who was still asleep and frowned. He had Byakugan on. His words were barely a whisper so she leaned in close to hear him. "Finally, I can die in peace." He was quiet for a few minutes after that and Sakura was wondering if he'd stopped when the Byakugan fell and his face contorted to pain. "God, this hurts more than I thought it would. Why can't it just let me..." He started fitfully for a moment before he went still again.

"I'm sorry. I couldn't do-" He began a light coughing spell, his hand slipped soundlessly to his neck and he just kept coughing for a little bit. Tears welled up at the corner of his eyes and started falling freely from him. This was his nightmare, whatever was going on in his head right then. "Sakura, don't cry..."

She jumped from the bed, eyes wide. She knew exactly what he was remembering. She remembered those words, the look on his face, it was nearly exact. She knew what the nightmare was. When she saved him in the woods. He jumped nearly completely off of the bed, his eyes wide, tears streaming down his cheeks. He looked over at Sakura, staring back at him and fell to his knees. She ran over as he buried his face in his hands and barely caught the sob that tried to escape him.

"Oh, god! Neji!" He shook his head, unable to say anything. "Don't tell me that you're alright. I already know that you're not." She wrapped her arms around him and just sat there for a minute before he was able to compose himself. "I'm sorry..."

"Don't be! God, Neji, you'd scared me half to death that day! Please don't tell me you're sorry!" He just sat there, wordless for a few more minutes till he finally put his hands down, staring at them, a blush across his cheeks. "I didn't want you to see me like this. I feel so... weak after those nightmares." Sakura smiled at him and leaned her head on his shoulder. "I'll never see you as weak. On the verge of death you didn't even think of yourself. You told me not to cry. I honestly didn't think that you'd ever remember that. You feel weak, I cried my eyes out for an hour." She smiled at him and he looked down at her. His eyes widened after a moment and he pulled his hands up, covering his eyes. "Neji?"

"Look down." She did as she was told, only she looked down him. She noticed his state of dress a little too late and covered her eyes as well. "We both passed out naked." Neji sighed. "I didn't even notice that I was." Sakura laughed and opened her eyes, peeking down at herself. "Wow, I put on a few pounds. Let me go get us robes, alright?" Neji nodded and Sakura went over, getting them from the hooks by the door. She walked over, sliding his over his shoulders before putting hers on. "Neji, you can look. Not like I didn't look at you, too." Neji frowned at that remark. "Sakura, we need to talk." She nodded, sighing and went to sit on the bed. He sat on the other side, not really looking at her.

"Don't tell me, don't get too attached to you cause after this is over I won't feel like this anymore, right?" Neji shook his head. "When you were on the cliff, when you thought you were about to die, you told me that you wanted me to be happy. You told me that you didn't give your heart lightly. You said that you'd wanted to give it to me. I want to know, how much of that did you just say because you thought you were going to die?" Sakura thought for a second about this. "I said all of it because I thought I was going to die. I just wanted to tell you how I felt, what was happening with me before I never had the chance to tell you again. I meant every word." She kept her eyes locked with his as she spoke.

He looked down, a blush crossing his cheek. "I'm sorry that I downplayed your emotions. I didn't want you to think, after we got back, I didn't want you to hate me for taking advantage of the situation." Sakura watched the way his eyes danced about the room, but never really settled on her. "Neji, do you think that I'm the type of girl to go that far for a mission? Kissing you? Wanting to practice intimacy for something that might not even be our mission?" Neji looked over at her, his eyes suddenly wide.

"I wanted those things. I wanted to be that close to you. I wanted you..." She stopped nervously at the last part. "I wanted you. I'm not going to pretend that it didn't hurt when you turned me down, that you got another room to stay away from me, but Neji, I can't imagine going back to Konoha and not seeing you. I don't want to know what it would be like to wake up alone after feeling like this." Neji looked at her, his eyes pained. "I'm so sorry. I was scared. No one's ever said those things, ever given me the glances that you do. I guess, in my mind, I just thought that it was what was going on around us. The thought never crossed my mind that maybe it was just us."

Sakura scooted over to him and laid him back onto the bed, laying her head on his shoulder. She put her hand up on his chest and sighed. "Just promise me that you won't push me away like that again." Neji looked down at her, his eyes still scared. "So, after all that I put you through, you still want to be with me?" Sakura nodded, finally allowing a smile to cross her mouth. "I do."

They laid there like that for a few hours before drifting back to sleep.

The next morning they were presented with the Star village's headband. "We've ordered breakfast for you, we're actually throwing a party in your favor. Come to the restaurant next door in a half an hour, alright?" The secretary from when they arrived ended out getting to be the one taking care of them, halting anyone else that came for the hunt. "Maybe this will give us a little catch up, as we were out of commission for a few days." Neji thought out loud and Sakura nodded.

They arrived at the restaurant just in time and everyone stood, clapping their hands and getting a look at the young woman who made the antitoxin. They were ushered to a seat at the center of the bar and the Hoshikage, someone that Sakura hadn't met yet stood at the side and grinned out at the audience.

"I want to welcome Haruno Sakura and Hyuga Neji to the Star village! Miss Haruno, as of yesterday, created an antitoxin for the poisoned mist around the chasms in the area! As many of you know, there are many deaths each year, usually small children who have wandered too far. This has been the plague of the village. With the antitoxin now in existence, there will undoubtedly be far less deaths every year. For those that have already died, and the children that will someday use this medicine to live, everyone in this village thanks you with all their hearts." Sakura noticed a quickly wiped tear on the Hoshikage and frowned, leaning to the secretary. "Why is he crying?"

"Three years ago his wife and son fell into the chasm you went into. They never made it out." Sakura winced, now understanding why the antitoxin was such a major thing to these people. She looked around, seeing tears in the eyes of many, smiled on nearly every face. "Almost everyone in this village has lost someone dear to the toxins, and in a few years, there's now a chance that we won't be able to say that anymore. Though the deaths won't be eliminated till we're able to find a cure for the mist itself, there will be many less.

Sakura raised her eyebrow at the Hoshikage. "Uh, sir," The Hoshikage looked down at her, curious. "Yes, what do you want to say?"

"With the type of toxin that is, all you really need to do is spray at the opening of the chasm, where the mist starts and the toxin will be eliminated. Just spray once a month and it'll stay gone." The Hoshikage looked at her, his eyes wide. "Are you kidding?"

"No. I'm sorry, I didn't think to tell you that the other day." She smiled sheepishly, her hand behind her head in a sign of embarrassment usually saved for Kakashi and Naruto. The secretary looked over at her and smiled. "Can you spend another night? There's another reward for the removal of the mist." Sakura looked down at her. "What?"

"They'll test it and if it works, you're going to be leaving very rich tomorrow." Sakura looked at her and frowned. "I don't want to suck your city dry." The secretary laughed, shaking her head. "Sakura, we're on a platinum and diamond vein. We're all stinking rich here." Sakura looked over at Neji who waved his acceptance, looking annoyed, but Sakura knew he was hiding his amusement over the situation. "Of course, your room will be covered again. When you go to leave, we'll get you the Kage's room on the train, alright?" Sakura looked over at Neji. "That alright with you, team leader?" Neji looked down at her, the light from the lanterns in the large room dancing in his eyes. "Since when am I the team leader?"

The day was spent looking around the village, as the last time they'd been there it was a lot quieter. The whole city was in celebration, and the people that came to pat her on the back or tell her that her deeds were a relief after the death of their loved ones. It got much more intense when the word started to spread about her also being the one to help them remove the mist.

By the time that night had fallen, everyone in the village had seen her at least once, many tearful at the memories of the ones that they'd lost. It weighed a lot more on Sakura than she'd thought it would and the instant they got into the hotel room she broke down in tears.

Neji understood, seeing the horror in her eyes at the people who showed her pictures of their children, their siblings, that had been lost. Most had stories, a child had fallen, no one was able to go down to reach them so they sat there and watched them die, the Ninjas getting there just a moment too late. He really wished now that he'd said no to staying. "Sakura, are you alright?" She nodded, slumped on the floor, barely able to hold herself up through the racking sobs. Neji sighed, leaning down next to her and lifted her head, resting it on his shoulder. They spent about an hour like that, her arms wrapped around him, his arms wrapped around her as she cried out all of the damage that the words and images of the people put into her head.

Sakura fell asleep quickly, her head on Neji's chest. He smiled sadly, looking down at her. Figures. They finally admit that they have feelings for each other, He finally admits the validation of her feelings and it's been nothing but the least romantic things since. He looked down at her, her eyes still red from the crying and sighed. "Tomorrow. I'll try and have things a little more suitable for us tomorrow." He said, knowing she didn't hear him and smiled at her before falling asleep.

Sakura woke the next morning to the clock in her head. She looked at the window to see the sun shining through again. It looked to be a beautiful day. She smiled as she rolled over to Neji, seeing him shift a little in his sleep. "Neji?" She shook him softly, afraid to wake him too suddenly with his nightmares. She was surprised when he opened his eyes softly and looked over, smiling at her. "Good morning." He sat up, stretching as if this were the most natural thing and looked over at the window. "We head out today. No more cures, alright?" He joked and Sakura just stared at him, wide eyed. "What's wrong?"

"You usually don't wake like this. It's a little surprising." Neji smiled at her. "I usually don't go to sleep feeling like I'm not alone." Sakura just watched as he leaned over to her, putting his arm around her. "So, you ready to head out?"

They went for breakfast at the restaurant, everyone clapping as they entered. Sakura frowned, hiding her face from embarrassment. Neji smiled at her and put his arm over her shoulder, whispering into her ear. "You should enjoy this more. You're a hero here." Sakura looked up at him and half smiled, trying to seem a little more comfortable, but not exactly succeeding. Neji walked her over to the table and they sat, the waitress running over, smiling. "Haruno-sama, thank you so much! Last year-"

"Please, don't. It's hard on her to hear these stories." The woman looked at her, the sudden circles under her eyes and the inability to look up past her hands which played with the place mat. "Oh, I'm so sorry! I didn't realize..." She realized that Sakura must have heard hundreds of horror stories through the last day and smiled, nodding. "Whatever you want, on the house. I'll even give you the new cook, but that would be more of a favor to me." She giggled and Sakura looked up at her, smiling at the change of topic. "What would you recommend?"

Sakura was surprised when her blueberry pancakes and green tea turned to blueberry pancakes, steak, half a cantaloupe filled with fruit salad and many other things. Every time the waitress came by she would drop off something new with the comment, "This is from the gentleman over there." or "The lady at that table gives her thanks." It was a lot easier without the stories, and she kept giving thank you glances to Neji whenever he would tell someone else that the stories were troubling her.

They headed out that night, on the train at around six they found massive amounts of gift baskets and other items that had been given by the villagers. Sakura laughed as she picked up a basket full of fruit. "These are nice." She smiled, some of them were hard to get hold of and she put them down, looking at the other things. She picked up the bag, knowing that the pack of money easily doubled the weight of her back pack. Neji looked at her, smiling. "Do you think there's actually that much in there?" Sakura nodded. "Easily. I'm wondering how much extra they put in there." Neji shook his head. "In that case, you should rest your head, Sakura-sama." Neji bowed down and Sakura slapped him playfully. "Stop!" He looked up at her and smiled, pulling her in for a hug. "Sakura, do you think we'll be able to go through whatever Konoha has to throw at us?" Sakura nodded. "We dealt with Suna, Mist and now Star. We can get through whatever they give us at home." Sakura grinned at him, the grin quickly returned.

They sat on the train, Sakura laying with her head on his lap, him running his fingers absently through his hair looking out of the window. "Neji?" He looked down at her, with a smile he hadn't seemed to shake all day. "Do you really think that Tsunade would, that she'd make us..." Neji shrugged. "I don't know. It doesn't sound like it's something that she would do, especially to you, no matter how much money is at stake. I think there's something about this scavenger hunt that they're not telling us." Sakura looked at him, thinking for a minute before nodding. "Except Suna, it seems that all of the missions were affection based." Neji looked at her before remembering what else was in the basket in the Star village. "It was weird. Most of the other trials seemed to be oral sex." Sakura blushed at the thought. "I, uh, well,"

"And the one village that we left before headed to the Star village, it seemed that there was a genjutsu on us that made it seem like everyone there was really 'busy'." Sakura frowned. "Why didn't you tell me it was a genjutsu?"

"I wasn't sure. I'm still not. It just had that feeling, my instincts told me there was a genjutsu on the whole village. That's why I wanted to leave. I wasn't sure if it was an enemy." Sakura frowned. "An enemy that wanted us to get some. Hm, that sounds a little far fetched." Neji nodded. "It does. I still can't figure this out. None of the items on the list seem to be related, the villages weren't strategically located, it's almost as if they wanted us to avoid someone." Sakura sat up, thinking. "Now that you mention it, weren't almost everyone preparing for missions at the same time as us?" Neji nodded. "What in the hell is going on?" Sakura tried to think over this. None of this makes any sense..."

"Let's worry about it tomorrow, alright?" Sakura looked over to Neji and smiled, nodding. "Alright. So, what do you want to do?" Her voice was a little more seductive than she'd expected and Neji smiled at her look of confusion at her voice. "Let's just stay like this a little longer." Sakura looked at him, a little surprised. She smiled, knowing that he actually wanted more than just sex. She laid her head back down on his lap and smiled.

She woke a few hours later, Neji's head back and she knew that he'd fallen asleep. She sat up quietly, not wanting to disturb him and crept out to the fruit basket she'd eyed earlier.

She pulled out a kiwi and bit into it, the flavor seemed very strong to her but she loved it all the same. She'd always loved kiwi fruits, and looked around at all of the gifts. Many of them were perishable. Her and Neji together wouldn't be able to eat them all before they went bad. Maybe she would share with Naruto. He could use any excuse, like free food, to eat something besides ramen. She giggled at the thought of him biting into the side of an avocado without peeling it. "Sakura chan, this is gross." She snorted as she took another bite and turned, headed back to the area where Neji sat.

Neji woke bright and early the next morning to find Sakura curled up at his side. He looked around, finding a blanket on the overhead and pulled one down, laying it over her. He was warm enough with her there, but she didn't look as comfortable. He smiled at her, running his fingers again through her hair and she opened her eyes slowly, looking up at him. "Morning already?" Neji nodded as she sat up, stretching.

"Sakura, why do you smell like fruit?"

Hey all! I'm on to the next chappy! Just to let you know, I might not be able to write much this weekend, as it is forth of July! Much of the time I spend writing, therefore will be spent with my kids, watching people make explosions!

And people wonder why Americans can be so violent!! Muahahahahahaha!

Anywho, see you all later!

Jasminflower69


	6. Chapter 6

Hey! I'm still at it! I swearz! Now for the arrival at Konoha!! Muahahaha!!

Disclaimer- haha! Disc claimer! As if I don't have anything better to do with my time than claim discs!

Chapter 6

It was two more days later that they arrived at the station. Sakura looked at the bags as they were unloaded by the passengers and Sakura frowned. There was no way in hell that she'd be able to get them all to her little apartment. Even with Neji, hell even with five Neji's there was no way. "Neji, can you do me a favor?" He looked at her, making a little questioning sound and Sakura smiled. "Can you ask Tsunade to rent me a few nins to help me get this all home?" Neji nodded, agreeing that this was the best idea and headed out quickly. Sakura sat there, looking at the massive amount of items. She was surprised half an hour later when Neji showed up with Tsunade and half of Anbu.

"What did you do, rob every shrine in the hemisphere?" Sakura shrugged and stood, grabbing onto the bag with the ryo. "Apparently I'm a hero now in the Star village.

They all carried the bags to her house, even Neji grabbed a few baskets and Sakura explained the going ons on the way. "Ah, that little trick? I'm surprised that they didn't do that themselves." Sakura shrugged. "So was I, but I got two nice rewards for giving them the serums." Tsunade looked at her and Sakura motioned to her bag. "Damn! Sakura, You know you couldn't have done it without my training!" She hinted and Sakura nodded. "I already planned to give you a million." Tsunade froze in her tracks. "A- a million?! Sakura, how much did you get??"

"Eighteen total, not including expenses." Neji looked over and noticed Sakura waving him down. Tsunade looked at her, a little afraid. "That's a lot. Are you planning to retire?" Sakura smiled at her, Neji stopping to hear her answer as well. "Tsunade-sensei, I was hoping to maybe get a little more exiting missions, but I want to keep up as a ninja. If I retired what would I do for fun?" Tsunade thought over her answer and smiled.

By the time all of the baskets and bags were in her apartment there was barely enough space for her. Sakura stashed her bags and turned, locking the door before headed back to the Hokage's tower.

Neji was beside her as they walked up to the door. "Sakura, I want you to know, at this time I'm leaving whatever they throw at us to you. If they say something that you're uncomfortable with, tell me and we'll forfeit." Sakura nodded. Neji frowned at the ease in which she did that. "Sakura, I don't want us to do anything... drastic over a mission." Sakura nodded again and Neji noticed the seriousness in her face. They walked in.

"Hey Shizune! We're here for the scavenger hunt!" She looked up at Sakura and Neji and froze. "Really? She set you out with Neji?" Sakura froze. "What do you mean by that?" Shizune seemed to stall for just a second before answering. "You're such a social butterfly. It just seems a little, quiet." Sakura rolled her eyes. Shizune walked over to the counter, laying the armload of books down before opening a book on the counter. "Let me see your scroll." Sakura looked to Neji who handed it over quietly. Shizune unrolled the scroll so it only faced her and read, looking up at them every once in a while. She finally nodded and took the scroll, walking towards the stairs. "Follow me."

Sakura froze just in the door. Gaara was there with Tsunade and they both looked over at the team. Shizune handed the scroll over to Tsunade who unrolled it with Gaara looking over the paper as well. Sakura stood on her toes to try and see, to which Tsunade gave her an evil glare and Sakura went quickly back to her feet. "You haven't had one successful team yet, have you?" Gaara shook his head, an uncharacteristic grin in place. "Sakura, there's the last trial here, which was to be determined by what was written in your scroll. Due to what the other villages have said about you, there's only one test left. Neji, you have to drink this." She put out a vial and Neji stepped forwards, taking the vial from her hand. He was about to drink when Sakura asked. "Tsunade, what is that?"

"What do you need to know?" Sakura looked over, remembering the trial from the Star village. She put her hand over the vial, stopping him from drinking. "Is it poisoned?" Tsunade looked at her, frowning. "It really doesn't matter, as your part will come next." Sakura shook her head. "Will mine be poisoned?" Tsunade grinned at her. She pulled out another vial of the same substance and held it out. "You both want to drink at the same time?" Sakura flipped her hands quickly, with a speed that would have put Lee to shame and grabbed the vial from Neji, grabbing the one in Tsunade's hand as well. She popped the cap and chugged both at the same time. "I'll not have you hurt him." Tsunade stood, looking at Sakura terrified. "You! You... Shit! Shizune!!" She was there in an instant and saw both vials in Sakura's hand. "Tsunade-sama, we just lost, didn't we?" Tsunade frowned. "I think so." Neji jumped forwards, his hands hard on Sakura's shoulders. "Sakura! No! What have you done!"

"I can create an antidote for myself. If I have your possible death weighing on me I'll get slowed down. I just prevented that." Neji looked over at Tsunade and growled, slamming his hands on the table. "What was in those vials?!" Tsunade looked over at Gaara, who smiled at Sakura and nodded. "It was water." Neji froze, looking over at Sakura. She put the vials down on the table and frowned. "Water? I don't understand." Tsunade looked over at Gaara who nodded. "All of my teams were eliminated. This officially makes them the winners, if she's still intact." Tsunade looked over at Sakura and frowned, looking at Neji. "Sakura, Neji, you two, when you left you were virgins. Are you still now?" Sakura froze. "What?"

Tsunade frowned. "Shizune, test her." Neji watched in horror as Shizune took Sakura to another room. "What would it matter if we are or are not virgins?"

"Because she loves you." Neji shook his head. "What? Hokage-sama, I don't mean to be rude, but what in the hell is going on?"

"The scavenger hunt goes on every five years. The items you got on the scavenger hunt aren't just any items. They're items given during weddings in the country that you got them from." Neji raised his eyebrow. "Why did we just get wedding items?" Tsunade grinned. "That, Neji, is the actual reason for the game. Wait till Sakura gets back and I'll explain."

It was only a minute later that Shizune and Sakura returned. "They win." Shizune sighed, relieved. Tsunade grinned. "We won!" Gaara smiled over at her and bowed. "Well played, Tsunade." Sakura frowned at them. "Are you all mad? What in the hell is going on?!"

Tsunade grinned, her hands clasping together at her chin, her elbows on the table. "Every five years we pick three couples. It's just about every ninja village in existence that participate. We all put in money, this year the pot was about, what, twenty million?" Gaara nodded. "There are two prizes. The fastest couple to return with all items gets five million, which leaves fifteen million. For each couple that actually becomes a couple, but doesn't have sex, the village gets part."

Sakura stared, jaw dropped. "The problem is, they can't know that it's all a game. The couple isn't allowed to know about the second part of the contest. If it can be proven that they're in love, you're only part way there. If you've gone all the way, though, you're completely disqualified from the contest, even the first part. The couples aren't allowed to have been on the same team as children. They're both to be virgins, and Neji, I'm sorry, but Sasuke told us about you. That's why Kakashi went to you. He thought that there was less of a chance of you two falling in love. He didn't care about the second part of the test at all, as a matter of fact, I think he would have preferred if we lost on that one. It was between Neji, Naruto and Lee. Naruto was disqualified due to the teamed up as kids part, Lee we were worried would be a little more... after you. Neji, therefore was the other acceptable person. We were half tempted to get Gai or Shino, but Kakashi insisted on Neji. He was also your follower." Sakura stared at her, now feeling ill. "Follower?"

"Due to the fact that many of the villages cheat and get the couples to have sex he was the one to try and keep the game clean." Neji nodded. "The Hidden Sex Village." Neji spoke quietly and Sakura nodded. "You were right."

"Sakura, all of the couples were disqualified this year. We just won the whole jackpot."

"Makes up for the last few years, huh? I think I read that you put more money into the pot than won by about seventy five percent." Tsunade nodded. "You two, go and relax. You're both getting huge bonuses!" Sakura frowned, wanting so badly to hit her and turned, storming out.

She stood at the door and Neji walked up beside her. "Sakura, you know there's a chance that we may have been affected by a jutsu. Maybe what we think isn't real." Sakura shook her head, tears in her eyes. "I'm not saying that we're done, just give it a week. If you still love me, then we'll be together, alright?" She covered her mouth with her hand to try and hold in the sob that wanted so badly to get out, her lungs hurt, her chest hurt, she felt like those simple words had ripped her apart. "If you still feel this way, one week. Next Friday, noon at the red bridge, alright?" Sakura nodded as Neji wrapped his arms around her, she feared for the last time. "I'll be there. I already know that I will." Neji nodded and stepped past her, head held low as he walked away.

Sakura made her way home, tears streaming down her cheeks nonstop. She opened her door and looked at Neji's bag in her apartment. She wrapped her arms around her stomach, which suddenly felt totally void and leaned on the door frame for support. "Sakura!" She turned her head away, not wanting Naruto to see her like this. He saw anyway. "Oh! Sakura, what's happened to you?!" She turned to him and shook her head as he put his arms over her shoulder, hugging her. She couldn't hold it in anymore and burst into sobs on his shoulder.

Over the next few days Sakura wouldn't speak of what had happened. She kept her lips pursed over the whole thing. It was on Thursday that she was walking home with Naruto that she saw him walking towards her. She stopped and watched wide eyed as he walked, stopping about five feet away from her. All she could do was watch him, the way his hair fell around his face, the strength he had in his arms when he hugged her, and the tears started burning her eyes again. "Sakura?" Naruto turned to her and stared at Neji. She shook her head as the tears started falling and Naruto looked over at him. "Neji, what did you do to her?" She stepped forwards, pushing Naruto aside. "Neji, Please, It's been six days. It's killing me, not having you there. Please, stop pushing me away." Neji looked at her and for a moment she saw the same anguish in his eyes. "It isn't a trick, Neji. It's real. Please?"

Naruto stared between them for a moment before frowning, unable to figure out what in the hell was going on. He sighed and nodded, taking her into his arms. She threw her arms around him and cried again as he ran his fingers through her hair. "I'm sorry Sakura. I'm so sorry. I just needed to know that it wasn't a trick." She nodded, her face buried in his shoulder. "I told you that it wasn't a trick. Neji, I knew, with all of my heart, I knew that I loved you!"

Naruto's jaw dropped. "What?!"

"I know." He squeezed her tighter. "I still love you! Please, just don't push me away again..." She sobbed and Neji leaned his head against hers. "I love you too, Sakura. It wasn't a jutsu. I know that now. I'm sorry." She leaned up, pressing her lips lightly to his to which he happily returned the favor.

Naruto stood there stunned, jaw dropped and his head slowly sliding to the side. "What in the hell did I miss?! When did you fall in love?!"

Sakura turned to Naruto and grinned, the most happy Naruto had ever seen her. "I'll tell you later. I have a week worth of kisses to get." She turned back to Neji, his head shaking with his light smile.

Sakura led him to her new house, showing off the main parts of the house, the living room, the kitchen, the back yard and the dojo. "What do you think?" She smiled at him as he looked around, his eyes scanning every surface. "It's just as big as the Hyuga house! There's got to be a dozen rooms here!" Sakura nodded. "There's actually fourteen, not counting the yard. I figure that this place will be great for me, for us." Neji turned to her. "Us?"

"Eventually I figure you'll come stay with me, once we get comfortable enough. I'm not saying right now, but eventually..." Neji looked at her, eyes wide. She looked up at his gaze and smiled. "What are you thinking?" He knelt down, staring still at her face. "I can see it. I can see us being together till we're old. I never thought, I didn't think that this could ever happen to me." He just looked up at her, surprised at everything.

Sorry for the short chapter, it just seemed like a good place to stop for now, especially since it's bedtime! Yes, even I need to sleep!

Therefore, later all!

Jasminflower69


	7. Chapter 7

Hey! I'm getting close to the end of this fic, this may be the last chapter, depending on how things turn out. There may be one more, I'll tell you at the end if it's over.

TrunksMyBaby-Sankyuu!

Umi No Kaiso- No one really reviews my stuff here, I only have three stories with over 10k hits. Thanks for the praise, though, always appreciated!

Disclaimer- I don't own Naruto, Sakura, Neji or Kakashi, as much as I wish that I did own Kakashi! (Drool)

Chapter 7

Sakura and Neji looked out at the sunset from the small patio on the top of her new abode. "Look at that!" Sakura cooed pointing at the moon as it became visible from the bright orange clouds. "There's a star next to the moon!" Neji looked, realizing she was right. Sakura curled up beside him as they watched the colors of the sky change from blue, to red to the darkest black. "I'm going to look at furniture tomorrow. You want to help?" Sakura looked up at Neji who smiled down at her. "I'd be glad to. You do have a bed to sleep in, right?" Sakura shrugged. "I've just been sleeping with the blankets. I'm fine." Neji shook his head. "Nonsense. Tonight, you stay as the guest of the Hyuga house." He stood and took her hand.

They walked to his house and Sakura seemed unusually interested in seeing the furniture of the house. Neji and Hiashi watched amused as she took in the composition of each room, asking about the pictures, tables and, well, everything. "I love these wall scrolls! Where did you get them?" Hiashi shook his head as he answered her. "Those were a gift from Yondaime. I think they were painted by Jarayia." Sakura looked at them surprised. "I didn't know he could paint." Hiashi shook his head at her. "Sakura, I know that you've gotten a bit of money, but it might be a good idea to save some. The house you've bought is really big. Tsunade told me that you got about eighteen million, maybe you should keep some back, in case something happens." Sakura smiled at him, her hands behind her back. "Oh, I've put about two thirds into the bank to get interest, I've put half of what was left into stocks, and the last bit is what I've spent on my house and what I plan to spend on furniture." Hiashi looked at her, eyes narrowed. "You didn't get eighteen million, did you?"

"Oh! Did I say million?" She grinned and Hiashi shook his head. "Rule number one, never let anyone who's money hungry know how much you really have. Nicely done, Sakura." She shrugged and Neji turned to him. "Uncle, I have a request." Hiashi turned to him, nodding his acknowledgment of the statement. "What is it?"

"I have to ask to have a little more time off. I'll keep training as much as possible, but I need more time off." Hiashi smiled at him. "Why do you need time off, all of a sudden?"

"I, uh, need to have more time for... socialization." Hiashi smiled. "Socialization? You've never been much of a social person." He looked over at Sakura knowingly and winked so that Neji couldn't see. Sakura smiled at him and giggled as Neji flustered. "Uncle, Me and Sakura, uh, we're kind of... uh..." He nodded. "I understand. Me, Hinata and Hinabi have a mission tonight, we're actually leaving in about an hour. You two don't get into any trouble, alright?" He smiled and Neji blushed terribly. Sakura grinned, putting her arms over his shoulder and grinned at Hiashi. "I promise that we'll both be alive and the house intact. Does that count?" Hiashi shook his head as he turned and walked away.

They sparred in the yard till the others were gone. They went out soon after, headed to a nicer restaurant at the end of town. Neji nibbled at his food while Sakura lightly sipped her tea towards the end of the meal. "Well, we have the whole house to ourselves." Neji nodded, a light blush crossing his cheeks. Sakura raised her eyebrows and stopped chewing while she examined his glance. "Are you alright?" He nodded looking at his food. "It's odd. After all of those nights we've spent together, after we've seen each other naked, Kissed, and offered to die for each other you'd think I'd be a little less nervous about you spending the night." Sakura smiled at him, giggling. "You know, we don't have to do anything. We can just sleep." Neji smiled at her and sighed. "Thank you."

They finished and walked away, not noticing Naruto stopped still, staring wide eyed outside the curtain."Oh, I think I'm gonna puke..."

The room was warm and inviting to the quiet med nin as she walked in, posters of stances that Neji had yet to perfect covered the walls. There was a small lamp in the corner that doused the walls with a golden light. Sakura looked at the tatami mat in the corner, the pillows matched the blanket, a dark brown that clashed with the light wood on the walls and floor. "Is this all bamboo?" She ran her fingers over the walls, surprised by Neji's nod. "Sorry it's a little messy. I wasn't expecting company today." Sakura grinned at him shrugging as Neji picked up a few loose items of clothing that had fallen from his dresser that morning. "This is actually pretty clean. You should have seen my apartment before I left. Fortunately Naruto, Sasuke and Shikamaru were happy to take some of the fruits, but there were baskets everywhere. I couldn't give them all away." Neji turned to her grinning. "What did you end up doing with them?" Sakura sighed, shrugging. "I still have quite a few at the apartment. Probably about two hundred." Neji shook his head. "You could give them to Hokage-sama. She might be able to get them filled for gift baskets for the other countries." Sakura nodded. That actually sounded like a good idea.

Neji laid down, Sakura curling up next to him by now as an instinct. She smiled up at him and leaned up for a kiss, to which Neji happily obliged. It was only supposed to be a fast kiss, only a second or two, but the sweet taste on his breath caught her attention, causing her to keep there for a minute. "What's that flavor?" She asked and Neji shook his head. "I don't know, what is it like?" She leaned up, kissing him again, this time running her tongue against his bottom lip and Neji gasped at the feeling. "It's really sweet, almost like a... pocky?" Neji shook his head. "I don't eat them, Too much sugar." Sakura leaned in for another kiss, her hand this time ran up to his chest. The feeling of her warm hand on him caught him off guard. "A mochi cake?" Neji shook his head, definitely feeling the effects of her touches and kisses.

Sakura's kiss deepened, as he gasped at the feeling of her hand in his hair, her tongue against his lip, she ran her tongue over his. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her in close to him. "Red bean paste... You had that at the restaurant, didn't you?" Neji nodded, not entirely sure that he could actually talk. She could feel his heart speed, but hadn't realized what she was doing till he nodded. "Oh! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to..."

"It's not a problem. I have to try and get used to this again." He smiled, realizing that they didn't kiss this much before. She laid her head on his shoulder and sighed, content.

It was partway through the night that Neji awoke, his shirt had bunched under his back and he carefully slid it off, trying to keep Sakura asleep. She looked up at him, groggy and smiled. "You mind if I do the same?" She asked and Neji nodded, unsure she was really awake. He sighed as she sat up, removing her shirt, showing her powder blue bra and laid back down, her hand resting on his chest. He laid there for a moment, the feeling of her skin against his a little more than he could bear and he slid from under her, a whimper coming from her. "Everything alright?"

Neji looked at her for a moment and sighed, sitting down. "I don't want to get you into anything that you don't want. You're really tempting me, though." Sakura sat up and looked at him nodding. "Would you feel more comfortable if I put my shirt back on?" Neji sighed. "No. It's everything about you, not just when you're less a few items of clothing." Sakura nodded. "You're just as frustrated as I am, aren't you?" Neji blushed at the question, nodding all the same. "Maybe I should go home, I don't want to make you uncomfortable in your own home." Neji looked up at her and shook his head. "Sakura, don't. Please stay." She sat and looked at him. "Well, where do you plan to sleep? We have three options here, either I go home and you sleep more comfortable, You go somewhere and I sleep more comfortable, or we can just stay here. There is the chance that we may get too caught up, but at least we'll both sleep soundly." Neji looked at her, his face growing in color each second. She patted the bed next to her and he looked at her, longingly. "Are you sure?" She nodded happily, scooting over to give him more room.

He laid down next to her and sighed. "Sakura, no matter what happens tonight I want you to know two things. First, this is more terrifying than any mission I've ever been on, and second, after the mission we were on I don't have as much willpower as I used to." Sakura looked up at him grinning. "I didn't think you wanted to do anything tonight. Sounds to me like you're changing your mind." Neji sighed, looking away. "It's alright!" She whispered, her voice both soft but commanding, the tone caught Neji's attention. "What, you think I'm addicted to porn because it's more fun to read than anything else? Sometimes you get like that, frustrated, and the best thing to do is find a way to get rid of it. If you don't want to go all the way, that's fine, but I can still help you relieve that." She felt her way down his chest to his stomach, running her fingers softly over his abs, causing him to draw a breath he wasn't sure he would ever let go of. As she ran her fingers softly under the band of his pants he turned away, trying to hide his blush. Sakura shook her head, turning his back to her. She kissed him, first softly then she totally claimed his mouth, running her tongue over his again as she reached further down, causing a moan as she reached her goal.

Her fingers were soft to him, the feeling of her running her hand over him in the way she was drove him nearly mad. She broke off the kiss as he reached down her stomach, mimicking the way she had moved her hand till he found the same reaction he'd had. She suddenly remembered she was in the middle of something and started again, her fingers completely around him as she began the rhythmic movements, him doing his best at the same time to keep up. He was surprised a moment later when she stopped and sat up, kissing down his chest while pulling off his pants at the same time. He actually had no idea what she was doing till her kiss reached around him. Neji moaned again, the feeling of her, the way she moved her tongue was sheer ecstasy to him. He moved her hips up, placing her over him and returned the favor. It was only a minute till she clenched, her face pressing firmly into his thigh and she did everything in her power to keep from screaming.

He kept up, suddenly wanting to know what it would be like, what she felt like and ran a finger up, pushing into her. She wasn't able to keep down the scream this time. "Oh! Oh-uh..." She wasn't even able to complete words. Neji smiled, a little proud of himself as she restarted her actions, this time a little more frenzied as he kept up, running his tongue over the most sensitive part of her, feeling the warmth inside her. He wasn't sure he would be able to keep this up, feeling like he was getting close as well.

He kept up as long as he could, now really wanting to feel her from the inside properly, as he felt himself losing his senses, grinding his teeth as her tongue swirled just right. He gasped, feeling the world tilt a little as she got a taste of him.

She sat up, turning to him, licking the last bit from her lip. "Feel better?" He couldn't breathe yet so he just sat up, wrapping his arms around her. "Oh, Where did you learn to do that?"

"I read a lot." She smiled as he laid down, pulling her with him. They laid there for a bit, a few kisses, hugs and embraces when he noticed that he wasn't doing as much better as he'd thought. He leaned his head back, groaning at the situation. "What's wrong?"

"After what we just did, after we were finally free from the pent up sexual frustration, all of the kisses, us both naked together, I'm back to where we started." Sakura reached down, feeling that indeed, he was again ready. "Well, we can take care of that."

Neji was expecting her to keep her hand down and was a little surprised when she got up, nearly throwing her leg over him. "Sakura, are you really sure? Once you do this there's no going back." Sakura smiled at him and nodded. "I was ready about two weeks ago." He nodded, preparing as she sat slowly on him. She gasped in pain, causing him to sit up, startled. "Sakura! Are you alright?!" She looked down at him and wrapped her arms around him, leaning up for a second before going right back down. He wrapped his arms around her, taking one of her nipples into his mouth, sucking lightly as she kept her movements steady, her head resting on his shoulder. Every second was so much more than he could handle, feeling as if every inch of him had gotten so sensitive that even her hair running against his back was almost too much.

She kept up, the feeling of him in her at first was horrible, the pop and the pain almost made her stop, but after a second still the pain died down, making the feeling pleasant at first, but every second felt better and better. She could feel every little bit of him that ran against her over and over, making her continuously wanting more. She knew that she was going faster almost every time that she fell but she couldn't seem to slow down as the feeling went from intense to mind blowing. She could barely think in full words as she knew she wasn't going to be able to keep this up much longer.

As if he knew that she was tiring, Neji leaned back to one arm up, rolling over her. He placed his hand beside her head as he started. He went in so much deeper and he almost instantly thought that this was a bad idea. He may not b able to keep this up for long, but not because of fatigue.

Sakura felt him hit the end of her, reaching in as far as he could and she nearly screamed, the little bit of pain actually making everything feel better. She looked up at him, his soft hair running across her face and neck and nearly whimpered as she knew she was almost there.

It all happened in one second, he pushed farther into her, spilling into her as she wrapped around him tighter, keeping him in place. She pushed her head against his arm, whimpering and gasping for air, but not sure if keeping this moment in place forever would be a better idea, air or not.

Neji felt as he went, his arms weakened as he nearly fell on her. He was able to slowly lower himself, the feeling of her pulsing around him was completely indescribable. Not as if he could have used words right then, but every inch of him felt her, her chest against his, her face against his arm, deep inside of her...

They laid there for a while, just trying to breathe as she finally looked up at him, smiling softly. He reached down, kissing her and backed away, pulling out of her. She gasped as he did this and he rolled over, pulling her to his side, laying her head on his shoulder. He kissed her softly before laying down his head and fell asleep in an instant. She smiled up at him as his breaths turned heavier, knowing sleep had taken him she closed her eyes and was out nearly as quick.

They woke the next morning to Hinata opening his door.

"Neji, Father- Sakura?!" They opened their eyes at the same time, looking down frightened at the girl who's blush had never been this red. She slammed the door and spoke quietly. "Father asked how the night went. What should I tell him?"

Neji stared at the door, getting his clothing on as quickly as possible while Sakura laughed at the scene. "Neji, I can sum up the night in one word." Neji looked over at her, his eyes now completely confused as to how she could be so calm in this situation. "One word?"

"Orgasmic."

Neji heard Hinata shudder in the hall and had to bite his lip to keep from laughing at her. "Let's get ready, I know after Hinata's scream that we're going to have some explaining to do.

It went remarkably well, to Neji's surprise. Hiashi shrugged it off easily. "How can you handle this so calmly?" Neji asked, unable to kill his blush since his uncle used the word 'fornicate'. "Neji, I was starting to wonder if you were gay. Always talking about Lee, a twenty one year old virgin, it was actually kind of frightening. You know, Hinabi lost her virginity first." Neji cringed, shaking his head. "Uncle, please, there are some things I don't desire to know." Hiashi laughed at this and sighed, looking between the two. "So, you remembered to be careful, didn't you?" Sakura and Neji looked at each other at the same time. "Uh, shit."

Finally, a lemon!! I have to have at least one.

Anywho, hope you liked! This isn't the last chapter yet, there's one, maybe two depending on how long the next part takes to write. See you all tomorrow!

Jasminflower69


	8. Chapter 8 and Epilogue

Hey all! If I get this up in time I'm going to have a heart attack, due to the fact that I haven't written in almost two days. My mother in law and kids have kept me running in circles! On the other hand, the yard looks a lot better!

Pnkrockninja101- lol I was actually planning a remark about that in this chapter. There was a reason I'd mentioned them, and it was specifically for this remark. I'm keeping it in, even though you guessed it. Thanks for the review!

Chapter 8

Sakura looked around her apartment, biting her nails as she wondered if the furniture would need moved, if the sun shone correctly for the layout and other things just to keep her mind from the small piece of plastic that she'd just placed on the counter.

Minute 1

She walked around in a hurry, watching every little detail of her house, the way that the sunset shone off of the floor might be a little much. Maybe she should get a rug... well, they, as Neji was talking about moving in. Hiashi had said something to him, and Sakura wasn't really sure what it was, but Neji seemed happy all the same. She was wondering if Hiashi had told her to do something insane, like propose or something that Neji was way too shy to do, really. She hadn't realized all those years ago that he was just as shy as Hinata, only he stuttered when he got flustered, instead of all of the time. Sakura sighed. After this, well, She sighed as she went back to seeing if any of her furniture clashed with the sunset.

Minute 2

If Neji moved in, she'd need to ask Ino about cooking help. She was good, at least according to Shikamaru, but she wondered if he even paid attention to what he ate. She found him the other day, the whole class of Academy children, sitting out in one of the practice fields, looking up at the clouds. The ninja of tomorrow have a brilliant teacher, but all the same in 20 years or so the whole of Konoha was doomed. She laughed at the thought that all of this fear she's putting onto her home won't hold the weight of two or three hundred ninjas on it, and they wouldn't even be protecting the city. She laughed for a split second, allowing herself that much time to try and break the tension before it failed miserably.

Minute 3

Sakura leaned against the couch, sliding down to the floor, terrified. What if it was... No! She shook her head, trying to shake her fears out. If it was positive, then she could still be happy. They could be happy, all of them. She stood and paced the living room, wondering if the time had passed yet and looked down at her watch. Thirty seconds to go. She groaned as the seconds seemed to slow, each to a minute in themselves. Why didn't she come up with a faster test yet? She was a brilliant med nin! This is what she's supposed to do! Ease the suffering of those around her! Making these tests not take half an hour would definitely put quite a few ninja at any given point of time at peace. Tomorrow she'd get right on that, as long as the test wasn't too preoccupying her time then. She looked down at her watch, but before she had a chance to really look she heard the door open, turning around. "Hey, Sakura! I'm back!" He froze in the door, noticing the look on her face and ran forwards, dropping his bag on the floor. "Sakura! What's wrong?" She shook her head, looking at her watch and seeing that time was up. She turned, walking quickly to the bathroom and looking at the test. "Uh, Neji, I just took a pregnancy test." Neji nodded. "Oh."

"There's two lines." Neji nodded from the other room. "I know." Sakura turned to him, standing in the hall without Byakugan on. "How do you know?"

"I have Byakugan, Sakura. I'm sorry, I didn't know that you weren't aware of your condition." Sakura nodded, her hands suddenly shaking. "Neji, How long have you known?"

"About a week. He's right there." Sakura looked at where Neji pointed, just below her belly button and laughed. "A whole week, I've been scared out of my mind for three days, wondering if you'd freak out and run if the test was positive, and you already knew!" She was laughing so hard that tears welled up in the corners of her eyes and Neji frowned, wrapping his arms around her. "Sometimes, with your attention to details I forget that you can't see like I can. I'm sorry if you've been this worried. You should have known, though, that I wouldn't leave you about this. This is great." He ran his hand over her hair and Sakura smiled, his presence comforting her immensely. "Does anyone else know?"

"Well, everyone with Byakugan and Sharingan." Sakura froze. "Sasuke knew before I did..."

"Don't forget Kakashi." Neji teased and Sakura looked up at him, the fear in her melting away and quickly replacing it was relief, calm thoughts and maybe even a little joy. Neji smiled at her and sighed. "Just to let you know, I've already talked to Hiashi." Sakura froze remembering the mark on Neji's forehead. "Neji..."

"According to the main house, I'm now considered an honorary main branch. Actually, due to the fact that I'm moving out of the house they're calling me the head of a new branch of the Hyuga clan. You're the first woman in our clan." He smiled at Sakura who sighed relieved. "I hadn't even thought about this. I'm glad you think so much clearer than I do."

Neji laughed at this remark, causing a raising of Sakura's eyebrow. "Hiashi was the first to notice the baby. He's the one who told me what to look for, but didn't tell me what I'd see. I was scared out of my mind! I ran back to the house and asked for any information I should know. I know more about babies than I'd ever wanted, and I know it only gets more graphic from here." Sakura stared at him wide eyed. "Like what?"

"Did you know that it's not uncommon for babies to spit up over a foot away? Or that if it really is a boy we have to worry about him drowning himself during diaper changes. The angling of everything, he could pee up his own nose." Sakura stared at him, her mouth now a little 'o'.

"We have the support of the main house, now all we have to do is tell your parents." Sakura cringed, stepping away. "My mother's going to kill me." Neji smiled at her. "Sometimes people will have the ability to surprise you. If I'd told you three months ago that we'd be here now, you rich and pregnant, me being the one holding you, a diamond ring in my pocket, would you have believed me?" Sakura started to shake her head when she realized what he'd said. "You have a what?"

Neji smiled at her, reaching into his pocket and pulled out a small black box, handing it to her. "I was going to take you out to dinner tonight and ask, but it seems as if you need this now. Even if you say no, I know that it's still flattering to you." Sakura stared at him,wide eyed before looking at the small box that she turned over in her fingers a few times before opening it.

She sniffed in a laugh as she opened the box. The ring was silver, the diamond was about two carats, cut into the shape of a syringe. "You got the right one for me." She smiled and Neji smiled sweetly at her. "It was because of your wanderlust that we fell in love. It was because of your medical expertise that you found the serum that made you rich enough to get this house. It's because you were so busy concentrating on physical reaction that you didn't remember to cover up either, even though there were a few hundred condoms in your bag. We're getting the perfect life entirely due to your medical abilities." Sakura had never thought about it that way. "I think this is a decent tribute to what made everything for us. It took ten days to cut right." Sakura looked up at him surprised. "You were going to ask before you knew that I was pregnant?"

Neji nodded, picking her up in his arms and kissed her, nodding. "I told you a while ago, once we started, we couldn't take things back. I never intended to have sex until I was sure that I was going to spend the rest of my life with the person who took my virginity." Sakura smiled, sliding the ring on her finger, earning a grin from Neji. "Now, should we go out and celebrate?"

"Why not celebrate in?" She asked, kissing him passionately enough to let her intentions be known. Neji smiled back, laughing. "Sounds really good, all of a sudden."

Epilogue

Sakura held Kugi on her lap as he looked at the couple in the office with her. "Mommy, Is Daddy done yet? I'm bored." He tapped the stapler on the desk, causing the unnecessary death of the thirtieth staple that hour. "He'll come in when he's done, sweety." She smiled at him as Konohamaru and Hinabi stared blankly at the obviously bored child. "Wow, how old is he now?"

"Four years, three months." She sighed, reminiscing as Neji came into the room, with bento boxes in his hand. "Kugi, you're going to go on a mission with me today. Only a few more weeks till you start at the academy. We need to get you a little more practice in." Sakura frowned. "Neji! Isn't he a little young to have a mission log?" Neji looked up at his wife, a devious smile forming on his face that honestly scared Konohamaru. "He has more missions under his belt than I did at thirteen. He's up to twenty two?"

"Twenty four, Daddy!" Kugi grinned up, every little pearl in his mouth sparkling bright enough to put both Gai and Lee to shame. Sakura frowned. "You don't have him doing your dirty work for you, right?" Neji laughed as he took his son's hand, turning from the room. "Nah, That's what Naruto's for!" Sakura bit her lip at the reference to the still field bound Hokage. "If I told him that being eaten alive by zombies was great practice, he'd find one, I swear!" Sakura nodded, partially agreeing, partially excusing them from the room. Sakura looked back to the two in her room. "Hinabi, can you close the door?" She did as she was told as Sakura started shifting through the drawers in the desk, looking for a specific item. "Ah!" She pulled it out and handed it over, grinning like a maniac. "Sakura-senpai, are you alright?"

"Perfectly. Now, what you need to do is go to the villages on this list in order, each one is marked with a number," She pointed, showing the numbers on the map, "Get the item for the village from this list," Sakura held up the list before rolling it in the scroll, "And bring them all back here as quickly as possible. Remember, the first ones back get five million ryo. That's how we got the new academy five years ago." Sakura looked them each in the eye, the nearly demonic twinkling one that Sakura's 'niece' had never seen.

"Alright... When do we leave?" Sakura looked at her watch. "Meet me at the gates in three hours." They nodded and took off, preparing the items that they'd need. "Sakura, I know my last mission was a little... depressing, I promise I won't fail you this time!" Konohamaru looked at her pleadingly as he gripped the scroll for dear life. "Just remember, this is a game. Have fun! Just not too much." She grinned as they ran off. Sakura grinned as she walked out of the door, Neji standing there, Kugi's hand still in his. "I was really amused when Hiashi told me about Hinabi lying about losing her virginity. I think he knew that the contest was coming." Sakura sighed, shaking her head. "Sometimes I think that old man has the whole universe planned out for us. Wasn't he the one, after all, that alerted Kakashi about your virgin status five years ago?"

Neji nodded, looking down at his son and frowned. "Sakura, innocent ears. Let's continue this conversation later?" Sakura looked down at Kugi and smiled. "Let's go to lunch together before your father takes you on this mission, alright?" Kugi nodded, looking up at his father.

"Oh, Daddy! Look what Naruto-sama taught me!" Neji looked at his son with almost an earned fearful look as the words Neji had never wanted to hear from his son's mouth came out anyway.

"Sexy no jutsu!" Poof!

**The end**

Yes all, it has come to an end here, but don't fret! I'll soon be making another fanfic, this time I'm hoping to get a little more action in! (By action I mean fighting, not more graphic lemons, as I think they would ban me if I went too much farther into details...)

I would like to thank everyone who reviewed! It's nice to get so many kind words, keeping my morale up to get out one chapter a day! I never thought I could write this much!

As a random note, the name Kugi was planned, no that wasn't an accident. (Nejiscrew, Kuginail)

Later all, I'm going to go put lotion on my sunburn!

Jasminflower69


End file.
